Clash of the Legends
by Lux-Nero
Summary: Welcome to the newest amusement park around - Cress Paradise! Enjoy any of our four sections of the park, take in the sites, enjoy the cuisine, or the entertainment that we've got lined up for you: A full blown Duel Monsters' Tournament! With odd characters and strange twists, you never know what to expect!
1. Chapter 0: The Signs of Greatness

**Lux-Nero:** Hey there everyone! For old and new fans alike of my work, I bring you a very interesting idea for you all to enjoy. There's not much to say about this story only that I hope you all enjoy it like my previous stories. And thus, enjoy. Simply enjoy.

**TTTTTTT**

**Clash of The Legends**

**A fiction by Lux-Nero**

**TTTTTTTT**

_Time: 4:37 p.m.  
Location: New York City, Subway Station, Wilson Ave._

New York City was the place where countless people come to attain their dreams and to accomplish whatever they are capable of. It was a city built on the hopes of countless souls who come to America to fulfill anything that their hearts' desires. The city was also filled to the brim with tales of success and failures alike.

However, for one person who was roaming into the underground train-station, he was in a state of pure despair. His shoulders were slumped, his feet dragged on the concrete stairs he descended, and his messy orange hair shook with each step he took – His Lincoln green jacket was a little messed up and had a few scars on it. '_Yeesh, after all the trouble I went through to get this collection, I can't even get enough money by selling it to get what I need. I'm better off keeping these…'_

The young man stopped when he reached the bottom of the stairs, his eyes trailing towards the duffle bag he had slung over his shoulder. '_After five years of collecting these cards, I was expecting to at least be sitting on a small fortune… But what that guy was offering was just an insult!'_

Reaching into duffle bag, the young man pulled out a small binder and held it up in front of his chest before he opened the binder. Inside the pages of the booklet were several duel monster cards that were kept safe in the sleeves, each of them gleamed brightly in the light from the ceiling and reflected back into his face. He turned away from the cards…

But the glare of light wasn't the only reason why he turned away from the cards, rather he couldn't stand the sight of the cards that laid in front of him. '_Duel monsters, a game that countless people have spent millions on and have created a living based on these little cards… A card game for children… It's ridiculous. I can't believe how much I've spent on collecting these things, and I can't even get a decent price for them._

'_Way to go Ansel, you dug yourself into an expensive hobby and you can't even get yourself out by selling the cards you took so much care for. I got about a thousand cards in this folder, each of them heavily wanted cards and every card shop tries to stiff me out of a decent deal.'_

Ansel sighed under his breath and placed the folder back into his duffle bag. With that, he slowly made his way towards the platform to wait for his ride to arrive, '_I could sell them online, but I don't really care to deal with all that online crap…'_

The young man lifted up his left wrist up to look at his watch, only a few minutes before the train would enter the station and he could get back home. '_This was a waste of time and money… At the very least I got some exercise… Not like I needed it.'_

Indeed, Ansel was a slim young man, his clothes were barely hanging onto his figure.

"Excuse me, young man…"

Ansel turned his attention away from his watch to follow the voice that called out to him, and blinked a few times as a young woman walked up to him, with shoulder length plantinum hair and a black business suit. Ansel blinked a few times as the woman bowed her head slightly and chuckled sheepishly, "I hate to ask you a question, but could you tell me if this is Bedford Avenue?"

Ansel was born in New York City, and part of him wanted to follow his New Yorker nature and ignore this person… But he wasn't about to turn away a pretty face. "Unfortunately, this is Wilson Avenue, you're way off from where you think you are."

"W-What?" The woman yelped as she jumped back a few inches. "T-That can't be though…"

"Not from New York, I take it?" Ansel asked shuffling his duffle bag over his shoulder. "All you have to do is take the L Line to the Lorimer Street – Metropolitan Avenue intersection, and take the G-Line, you should be able to make it to Bedord in no time."

"Oh, thanks young man," The woman replied with a loud sigh following.

'_She doesn't look that older than me…'_ Ansel thought to himself as he looked the woman over. Ansel himself was in his final year of high school, and this woman looked to be a couple of years older than him. '_A college grad maybe? But that wouldn't explain the nervousness… Must still be from out of the city…'_

Ansel shook his head as he noticed that the woman was beginning to walk away from him, not really caring, Ansel shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to his watch. '_My ride should be here soon…'_

It was definitely a disappointing day for Ansel – Lost some money, lost some time, and didn't even make a profit with his cards. Some days were like that, and Ansel knew it, even though he was entering his final year of high school, it didn't change the fact that this was going to be a dull year for him – It was always like that. Even throughout his freshman through junior years, there may have been a few good memories, but it was still a dull time…

Study hard, join a club, prepare yourself for college…

Ansel lost count how many times he heard that line ever since he entered public highschool, and it certainly didn't help that because of his 'hobby' Ansel was the target for a number of bullies (it wasn't for the fact that he was into the card game, quite the opposite really, a number of students in his high school were fans of the game – It was just for the fact that Ansel only collected the cards, and he didn't really duel at all).

Then again, high school was really like that for a number of people – Only the rich and the popular have a good time at high school, and Ansel didn't fit into either of those categories. Sure, he was easy on the eyes, but that didn't really help out in the long-run.

Before Ansel could continue this train of thought, the subway's chime echoed through the air, alerting him that the train was on its way to the station. Adjusting his duffle bag, Ansel looked towards the dark entrance of the subway, waiting for the telltale lights of the front of the subway…

However, a loud screeching sound echoed through the air, followed by the ground shaking violently. Countless people in the subway screamed loudly as the ceiling above began the tracks began to crack. The shaking only intensified and knocked Ansel off his feet when the ceiling began to crumble to the tracks below. "HOLY CRAP!"

Ansel wasn't the only person knocked off by the shaking ground, countless others were knocked to the ground by the might shaking. Ansel's breathing became more forceful as he tried to get to his feet – But that's when he saw something…

The tunnel had two lights speeding towards the falling debris on the tacks. Ansel's eyes widened as he began to spin around to try to get away. '_The train!'_

Indeed, as Ansel began to get away from the edge of the station, the screech of the train's brakes blasted throughout the subway station. It was barely a few seconds that the train itself appeared from the tunnel, sparks erupting from the tracks as it desperately tried to stop before it struck the debris. However, it was a failed effort as the front of the train crashed into the debris, forcing the large amount of metal off of the tracks and onto the station.

Ansel didn't particularly care for what was happening around him, all he knew was that he had to get out of there – However, the force that followed from the crashing train shook the ground even fiercer and made him slip face first into the ground. "OOF!"

Pushing himself up quickly, Ansel tried to run away once again, however…

"AAAAAAAH!"

He didn't know why he turned to the source of that scream, but the voice it belonged to sounded familiar, so as Ansel turned his head, he saw that the voice belonged to the woman who he spoke to barely five minutes ago. She was on the ground, but what caught Ansel's sight was the fact that two of the train cars were pinned into the air, but were slowly beginning to fall towards her. '_Why isn't she moving?'_

Ansel's eyes fell to the young woman's legs, seeing that one of her legs was being pinned by a large piece of debris that had fallen earlier. It wouldn't be long until the train would fall and crush the woman underneath it… But the shaking ground didn't stop, and Ansel was in as much danger as she was if he'd stay any longer…

But still…

The next thing he knew, Ansel dashed towards the young woman, his duffle bag thrown towards the side. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he got closer and closer to the young woman, with the train cars slowly descending towards her.

Every step he took felt like a mile.

Sound began to fade from Ansel's ears.

And soon, so did Ansel's vision, all he could focus on was on the woman – Someone he didn't know, but someone he had to save.

And then there was nothing but darkness…

**TTTTTTTT**

_**What does it mean to become a legend?**_

_**If you look at it at a heroic view, then a hero is a person who's willing to sacrifice himself for others, even for people whom he doesn't know. They have a reason, they have a cause, they just know they have to do what they have to do. **_

_**If you look at the villainous view, then a villain is someone who has practically no morals or morals that have been twisted to seem justified to the villain themselves. Even so, they actions they take get them written into the pages of history for their infamy. **_

_**Then there are those who make an impact on others, and as long as they are remembered by at least one person, they'll never truly die. Entertainers, people of fiction, or even popular fiction, but are they considered legends? Depends on who you ask, musicians and people who performed for the thrill of performing would fill that qualification in my book since they're bringing smiles to people who watch them. **_

_**But you must be wondering… Why am I talking about legends when this story is obviously about the game of Duel Monsters? Shouldn't three familiar heroes be mentioned here? Well… I don't really have much of a reason, save for the fact that this story isn't about them, nor is it really about the heroes that I mentioned earlier. **_

_**This is about a new generation for the famous and infamous…**_

_**Too bad my story doesn't start out great.**_

**TTTTTTT**

**Chapter 0**

**The Signs of Greatness**

**TTTTTTT**

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

That sound echoed through the air.

It pained him to no end to hear it again and again and again, he didn't know when it started, all he knew was that he wanted it to stop. With a loud groan, he tried to reach for the source of the beeping, but his arms felt as heavy as lead.

In fact, his entire body felt like it was wearing a lead suit, it was so weird and infuriating.

So, slowly, he began to open his eyes. At first everything was a white blur, but slowly things began to come into focus – He was looking right up at a white tiled ceiling and the smell of disinfectant riddled the air almost to the point that he would be sick from the smell itself. As stated earlier, his entire body felt like lead and it was difficult for him to move, let alone breathe properly.

But still, using whatever strength he had to his name, the young man slowly pushed himself up, in an attempt to prop himself up from where he was laying. It took everything he had to accomplish that goal, but when he did, he was met with the sight of a large hospital room – curtains, different kinds of medical equipment, and a number of flowers with 'Get Well Soon' cards pinned to them.

He realized that he was resting in a bed and slowly propped himself up on the pillow, as he did, he managed to get a look at his hands – They were both covered in thin bandages, but he could still bend and feel his fingers, and other than the heavy feeling he had in his body, there didn't seem to be any difference or pain.

Just what had happened to him?

"Oh my…! DOCTOR! DOCTOR! HE'S AWAKE!"

He quickly turned his head to the source of the new sound, just in time to see a nurse dash out of the doorway and disappear into the hall. Whatever happened to him, it must've been major – so with his eyes closed, he took a deep breath and slowly relaxed to jog his memory…

**TTTTT~ One Week Later…~TTTTT**

Seven days had passed since he woke up, and from then, it was a steady recovery for him – Ansel – With his family and classmates visiting him and seeing how well he was doing. Even the doctors were surprised with how fast Ansel was recovering, considering that he had only been in the hospital for less than a month.

He remembered the quake, the train, all of the damage that was caused, even the woman he tried to save (but he hadn't heard about her though) – And from what he heard from his family and friends, apparently there was a gas leak that caught fire and caused an explosion above the subway which weakened the support.

'… _Like anyone's gonna believe that crap…'_

That's what Ansel's thoughts were when he heard that news, but there was nothing else for him to believe with the incident, so he just had to accept it for now.

It was on the eighth day that Ansel was finally well enough to leave his bed, and was currently changing into the clothes that his parents had left him earlier this morning – His favorite Lincoln Green jacket (a few scratches here and there, but otherwise, it was as good as new), a black jersey with the number '13' embroidered on it, and a pair of black slacks that hugged his thin waist. It was sort of a welcome home present that his family had decided to give him.

He wasn't really impressed with the gift, considering that during the incident his entire collection of duel monster cards were lost in the incident – So he was out of cash and didn't even have his collection to his name any more. It was a loss, pure and simple.

But at least he had his life…

Yeah right.

He just lost his cards, a month of his life (not to mention it was his summer break to boot), and there was no way he was ever going to get it back.

But with a sigh, Ansel slipped on his jacket – There was no use complaining about it. Better to lose that stuff than to lose his life. But he didn't have to be happy about it.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Huh?" Ansel questioned as he turned towards the closed door.

"Are you decent?"

Ansel raised an eyebrow when he heard that voice, it seemed familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it. It wasn't any of the nurses that were assigned to his room, he'd gotten used to hearing them when he was recovering this week so this voice was new to him, yet seemed like it was someone he heard before.

But before he could say anything, the door opened up and revealed someone Ansel hadn't seen in over a month – The very same woman that he had tried to save from the falling subway train. His eyes widened at her casually walking in the room, as if she was walking into a café or something of the like. "Ah, you are… That's too bad. I was kind of hoping for some drama…"

'_The hell?'_ Ansel thought to himself as the woman walked up to him.

"Oh well, I guess this will have to do," the woman sighed with a shake of her head. "I hope your injuries weren't too bad for ya. I'd hate to be responsible for anything that happened to you… Reaves, was it?"

"Yeah, that's my surname," Ansel stated under his breath. "Not to be rude, but who are you? And what the heck happened?"

"For what happened," the woman stated with a sigh under her breath. "I can't really answer that cause I'll get into that in a little bit, but I'll get to the introductions Mr. Reaves. I am Clair Artorius, but call me Artorius for now please. I'm what you'd call an entrepreneur of sorts. I'm still a young entrepreneur, but I have been successful so far, and I hope to be able to do so for the rest of my career life…"

The young woman named Clair Artorius just kept on talking about herself and her business ventures, all the while, Ansel just looked at her with a his jaw slightly opened, one of his eyebrows lifted up and his eyes blinked a few times. For about five minutes the woman kept talking about herself, and it wasn't until Ansel lifted his hand up into the air that she finally managed to stop. "Uh, yes? You had a question?"

'_This isn't a classroom!'_ Ansel thought to himself as he lowered his hand. "Was there a point to you coming here?"

"… I was actually about to get to that," Artorius huffed with her arms crossed. "Talk about rude…"

'_I'm the rude one?'_ Ansel thought to himself. '_I didn't waste all that time talking about my daily regiments to a guy who just recovered from a near fatality!'_

"But I'll say it right now," Artorius stated as she lifted the brief case up. After holding it in one of her arms, Artorius opened the case. "I believe these are yours, right?"

Ansel's eyes widened when he saw what was inside the case – It was all of the cards that he had on him when the earthquake struck, all of them were carefully placed in the same binder that he had used for them earlier. To make matters better, they were all in the same condition that they were in over a month ago.

Ansel's hands reached into the case and he placed a finger on the cards – Just by the feel of them, he could tell that they were real cards... His cards. "H-How did…"

It was then that Artorius pulled the case back and smiled at Ansel, "As I said, I'm an entrepreneur, I invest in things that are very interesting. And you young man, have piqued my curiosity – You saved my life last month, and I'm not the kind of girl to let a good deed go unrewarded. When you pulled me to safety, I merely grabbed this as you pulled me."

'_Is that what happened?'_ Ansel thought to himself with a confused look. '_I don't really remember much about what happened…'_

"Duel monsters is quite the commodity," Artorius stated with her smile growing slightly more mischievous. "So much so that there's still demand for it – Therefore, I and a lot of other associates over the last month have made a very interesting idea…"

"… Uh, can I have my cards now?" Ansel asked innocently.

"… And I'd like to make a small request of you," Artorius continued as she shut the case. "As such an avid collector of this game, you should have quite a bit of skill under your belt with this game…"

'_Uh, no… I'm just a collector!'_ Ansel thought to himself

"I'd like to invite you to a tournament that myself and a number of other high priced executives are hosting," Artorius finished.

"… No," Ansel stated bluntly and dully.

"Huh?" Artorius questioned.

"I'm no duelist," Ansel explained with his hands lifted up to his chin. "I'm just a guy who likes the artwork on the cards. I can get why people would want to play the game, but its not for me. If I did, then the cards themselves would be ruined – Wear and tear ya know. I have no interest in ruining my cards to that effect. Sure, people use card sleeves to fix that problem, but that's only a temporary solution.

"Even if protected, the cards would eventually be ruined by the hands of the duelists – And I have no interest in doing that with my cards!"

"Nice bravado," Artorius admitted as she placed the case on the ground next to her. "However, I must admit something to you… You won't have a choice whether or not you want to join my tournament."

"Hmm?" Ansel questioned as Artorius reached into her pocket and produced a number of documents.

"My kindness wasn't just for the cards that you had," Artorius explained as she tossed the documents to Ansel. "I was indebted to you for helping me in my time of need, I felt it was good to aid you in your time of need… But even with insurance, your medical expenses were quite costly…"

Indeed they were, as Ansel looked over the documents, he couldn't help but break out into a cold sweat at all the zeros that were typed onto the paper. There was no way his family could pay for this sort of stuff and not get out of the red…

"It'd be a shame if my kindness were to suddenly go poof!" Artorius giggled with a warm smile on her face. "Especially since you saved my life, I'd be really sad if something were to happen to you…"

"So you're blackmailing me?" Ansel questioned as he threw the documents to the side.

"That's such a dirty word," Artorius pouted with her lips pursed. "I prefer the term 'negotiation'. You're more than welcomed to not accept my kindness, I'll just take back the money I used to pay for your medical expenses and you can keep your so precious cards… Although, I should point out that if you join the tournament, there are more benefits for you.

"Not only would those problems would be in effect – But if you make it far in the tournament, then you'll be much better off. There are prizes for the winners and for anyone making it in the finals will receive some rather impressive prizes as well…"

Now this was something that caught Ansel's attention, "What's the big prize?"

"Well, in addition to being well known as a great duelist," Artorius smiled brightly, knowing that she just landed herself a bite. "The winner of the tournament will gain a wealthy prize of fifteen thousand dollars, and receive one request granted from all of the businessmen who helped organized the tournament."

Ansel's eyes widened the moment he heard about the amount for the cash prize, and in two seconds flat, he knelt down and lowered his head. "When and where do I go to get this cash?"

For a moment Artorius stepped back, not expecting Ansel to agree so quickly, but then quickly composed herself. "Good to see you so ready for this – Unfortunately, you still need to win to get those prizes… And in order to get into the tournament, you'll need a few things."

Ansel lifted his head up just in time for Artorius to hold up a few items in her hands – The first was a letter in a fancy envelope that had an 'A' watermark on it.

The second item was a gauntlet that had a weird metallic and black wristband on it that had a screen on it.

But the third item is what caught Ansel's eye the most – It was a choker that had some weird symbols stitched into the green fabric as well as having a few sparkling crystals in it as well. Whatever it was, it certainly looked interesting…

"You'll need to wear this glove and choker to the location and date in the letter," Artorius explained as she dumped the items into Ansel's hands. "If you take off the choker while you're on the tournament grounds, you will be disqualified automatically – Just something I'd let you know about. Now then Mr. Reaves, all other information you'll need about the tournament is in the letter.

"Now, have a good day Mr. Reaves…"

Ansel just blinked a few times as he watched Artorius leave the hospital room… It certainly hasn't been a dull day at the very least for the recovered high schooler.

Placing the choker and glove on the bed, Ansel ripped open the envelope and pulled out a single folded piece of paper. Ansel opened the paper and began to read the contents in his head…

**Dear Lucky Duelist,**

**Congratulations, you have just been selected for one of the greatest tournaments in Duel Monsters' history – On comparable with the famous Duelist Kingdom. The Tournament of Legends – where we of the Artorius Group are aspiring to create new legends in the world of Duel Monsters. **

**The Artorius Group is known for our money in the entertainment business, which includes the amusement park business. Recently, we have completed a brand new amusement park called Cress Paradise – Which is about the size of a small city. It has the functions of a city as well, being a resort as well as being an amusement park.**

**In order to promote the new amusement park, we of the Artorius Group have decided to host a tournament – If you accept, you will be given a complimentary week long visit at the park where you can compete in the tournament and enjoy the park's facilities. Included with this letter in your package was a duelist gauntlet, its use will be explained on the first day of the tournament, so be sure to bring it with you along with a bag of clothes and essentials for a week. **

**More rules will be explained on the opening of the tournament. If you wish to attend, then call the number at the end of this letter. If you do not have a duel disk, then be sure to mention it when you call the number below. **

**The tournament starts on July 15 this year, and will last until the 23****rd**** at the latest. The location of the tournament is on the return address listed on the envelope of this letter. Please try to arrive on the 14****th**** so that we can provide you with a proper accommodation, and be sure to call us by the 13****th**** so we can gather a proper number of contenders.**

**Thank you and we hope to hear from you soon,**

**The Artorius Group**

Ansel just looked at the letter, then scanned it over again. It seemed as though there would be more information when the tournament begun, but looking at the dates, Ansel realized that the tournament was less than a week away…

Looking at the case of cards that Artorius left, Ansel turned back to the letter and sighed loudly, "… Looks like I'll have to invest in some serious card sleeves…"

TBC

_And there you have it, the prologue to a brand new story!_

_Be sure to check out for the next installment of this story within a week or so._


	2. Chapter 1: Ready, Set… DUEL!

_**They say there are a number of tales equal to the number of stars in the skies, and that each of them can be just as exciting as the stories that today's writers bring to the table. And a number of tales can be recalled by everyone, each which depict a number of heroes and villains – The Knights of the Round, the tales of the wild west, masters of the martial arts, and those that simply wished to bring smiles to the faces of others.**_

_**The dueling world isn't without its own legends – the King of Games began his reign when he was only sixteen years old, and he managed to do it by beating not only people who had more experience in the game, but also the very creator of the game who had cards that were not released to the public.**_

_**It really is quite amazing to hear the old tale with characters like David facing off against titans like Goliath – It does seem to strike that the best stories pit the weak underdogs against the titans of power, with the odds stacked against the underdogs, only for the underdogs to usurp the victory from the far superior opposition, especially at the last second.**_

_**Would this be a story as such?**_

_**Probably not. **_

_**For me, I've only got one motivation – And that's to fill out my wallet and make sure that I don't get myself or my family in the red. After what happened over a month ago… I have a debt to pay. **_

_**And if there's one thing I hate, it's to be in debt! **_

**TTTTTTT**

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Ready, Set… DUEL!**_

**TTTTTTT**

_Date: July 14__th__, 20XX  
Time: 6:14 p.m.  
Location: Outside Cress Paradise, NY_

Weeks back, on the night that Ansel received the invitation to the tournament from Artorius herself, the young man had immediately called the number that was provided in the letter and reserved his spot. During that call, he was given the address of Cress Paradise, and to his surprise, it wasn't that far from the city that never sleeps.

It was about a three hour drive from the Big Apple…

And it wasn't too hard to miss when Ansel was driving to his destination. Cress Paradise really was a city sized theme park, or when Ansel reached the parking lot, it looked as if the entire area was made up of several kinds of theme parks and hotels melded into a single city.

'_How the hell were they able to build an entire city without causing too much attention?'_ Ansel thought as he stepped out of his parked car, his clothes a little wrinkled from the long car drive. Oddly enough, Ansel was dressed in the same clothes that he had when he was invited to the tournament, save for the choker that he had around his neck.

As he rubbed the tight choker around his neck, Ansel looked at the city-sized amusement park – From this angle, he could only see one section of the park, and it looked to be one that was jam-packed with rides and festivities…

Ansel wasn't the only one in the parking lot either. As far as the eye could see, Ansel could see a sea of parked cars that lead up to the amusement park, each of them a different color, style, year and condition that it almost made Ansel turn away from the mass of colors that he was looking over. "I thought this was a private event…"

"I'm sorry sir, but this is something of an event that would warrant an audience."

From that surprising voice, Ansel jumped slightly as he spun around to see a weird character standing behind him. She was dressed in what Ansel could guess would be on comparable to a person in an mascot outfit that was designed to look like a large, cartoonish fox with bright blue fur with a tie around the neck. He couldn't tell from the voice if the person was a guy or girl, but Ansel blinked a few times at the weird character who just appeared in front of him. "Uh… Excuse me?"

"Did the costume get you?" The fox mascot questioned as he lifted his furry hands up in front of him. "This is one of Cress Paradise's mascots – Koko Kitsune!"

An awkward breeze billowed through the parking lot when Ansel heard that name, it was as if all the noise from the cars, the amusement park, every sound in the area seemed to be drained from the air. "Uh… Okay, aren't you supposed to be in the park?"

"Well, yes," Koko answered as he rubbed the back of his suit's head. "But not today. Today we're acting as chauffeurs for the duelists who are competing in the tournament, and I was asked to come over here to inquire if you were one of those duelists."

Ansel looked over the mascot's shoulder, and behind him was a golf-cart that had the Cress Paradise logo painted on the front of it. Quickly, Ansel reached into his green jacket's inside pocket and held up the envelope that Artorius had given him weeks ago. "Here's my letter for letting me in…"

Koko tried to grab onto the letter, but thanks to the large paw-like gloves, the mascot was unable to properly grip on the paper. After a few more tries, Koko lowered his arms down and his head. "Um… C-Could you just s-show me the water mark?"

Ansel rolled his eyes as he turned the card around in his fingers, revealing the watermark that was on the back of the envelope. "G-Good, and do you have the glove that came with it?"

With a sigh, Ansel merely turned his hand around to reveal that he was already wearing the glove that he got a while back. Koko bowed slightly, "Thank you. Now if you'll grab your things, I can drive you to where the duelists will be staying during the length of the tournament."

**TTTTTTTT**

~_ Ten minutes later…~_

Throughout the ride through the park, there was but one question that was on Ansel's mind as the mascot drove the go-cart. '_Should someone who's wearing that mask really be driving?'_

… Okay, that wasn't the real question.

The real question was that why wasn't the park really operating – None of the rides, none of the attractions, none of the food stands – Save for the lights, nothing was running. A few employees were walking around the park, preparing the attractions. Ansel turned his attention towards Koko and cleared his throat, "Uh, wasn't this place supposed to be opened?"

"Its opening tomorrow," Koko answered as she turned the cart on the concrete. "After all, that's when the tournament is going to take place, and you duelists are going to be additional entertainment for the park guests. Good luck!"

"Uh, thanks," Ansel stated as he leaned back into the seat. It's not like he really cared when the other guests would be allowed in the park, but he was a little curious as to why there were so many cars in the parking lot…

With a shrug of his shoulders, Ansel just turned his attention towards the park that was blurring past the golf-cart. And with all honesty, Ansel had to admit that even the unlit and motionless attractions were impressive. There were quite a diverse number of them, and Ansel couldn't help but wonder what they would look like when lit with electricity.

But that brought a question to his mind, why hold a tournament at a brand new amusement park? Weren't there enough attractions already, especially if the park was supposedly the size of a small town?

And the timing… Ansel wasn't that much of a duelist, but as a collector, he would've at least heard of a tournament of this scale. Heck, almost every rookie duelist would've heard of this… But the duelists that Ansel usually hung out with hadn't even heard of the tournament until Ansel showed them the acceptance letter.

There were definitely a number of questions that…

"Excuse me, sir?"

Ansel snapped out of his thoughts when he realized that the golf-cart had stopped in front of a well-lit, tall building which was obviously styled to resemble that of an old-style hotel with the words 'Joilant Hotel' in neon lights over the entrance of the building. However, what really caught Ansel's attention was that there were a near countless number of people standing in front of the hotel, a number of them with duel disks strapped to their arms.

"Sir," Koko stated as he held out his gloved hand out of the golf-cart. "This is your hotel, and here's where you get off. You're one of the last ones to arrive, good luck and please enjoy your stay here, Mister Reaves."

"Uh, thanks," Ansel stated as he slipped off of the golf-cart, his suitcase in hand. However, when his feet touched the ground, he realized something. "Hey, how did you…"

When Ansel turned around, the golf-cart was already speeding off. "… Know my name? Well, that's kinda rude… Oh well."

With a sigh, Ansel turned his attention towards some of the duelists that were chatting amongst themselves – A number of them Ansel didn't recognize, and that was a given, the letter that Artorius gave him stated that a number of rookie duelists would be invited to the tournament. But, amongst most of the faceless duelists, Ansel spied a few faces that he had seen in some rather recent issues of Duel Monster Master Monthly.

Most of them were still rookies that were in the junior leagues of the duelist leagues across the world, but they were still in the leagues! At least there weren't any real hardcore pros in front of Ansel. He had no idea what would happen if Jack Atlus or Crow Hogan were in this tournament…

Ansel probably wouldn't stand a chance against either of them…

But still, with all these names and duelists here, Ansel could almost feel that prize money running away from him.

ZZZZRT!

That static filled feedback echoed through the air, making almost every single one of the duelists hold their ears in pain. "**Testing, testing! Is this thing on?**"

"YES!" Almost every duelist shouted out at the same time.

Everyone's attention was drawn towards the entrance of the hotel, standing in front of the doors was none other than Artorius herself, dressed in a rather flashy bright red suit that hugged her figure. In front of the flashy businesswoman was a rather simple podium and on both sides of her were a pair of black suited body guards. Artorius blinked a few times in surprise at the conjoined shout-out from the duelists. "**Uh, right, anyway, welcome duelists one and all! And welcome to the Rookie Duelist Tournament at Cress Paradise! I am one of your gracious hosts – Ms. Artorius!**

"**And I first wanna say thanks for accepting our generous invitation for our grand opening tournament! You all have a little experience in the dueling world and for you this could be your big break into the tournament scene – This tournament will be broadcasted live to the whole world via the security cameras that we've got in the park, and whenever a duel is detected, will instantly activate the closest camera to get it on film. **

"**Now, as much as I would love to see you all begin tearing each other apart on the dueling field, we've got a few rules for you all to know about this little tournament. Rule number one: Here at the Joilant Hotel, official tournament dueling is not permitted, you're more than welcomed to duel, but victories or losses do not count while you're here. Consider it a safe haven for you all.**

"**Rule number two: During the first day of competition, which will begin at ten a.m. sharp, your duel gauntlets will activate. The duel gauntlets allow us to track you throughout the tournament, and they will hold your D-Points on the visor at the wrist. The first day of competition, you will each receive two D-Points electronically and your goal for the first day is to survive the duels. **

"**If you lose both of your D-Points during the first day, you will lose in the tournament. And there are a couple of twists to this rule: The first being if you don't duel at least twice by midnight's end, then you'll lose as well, so don't think you can run! And the second twist is that you don't have to accept a duel from someone, but there will be a penalty if you get out of thirty feet from your opponent – You'll lose a D-Point right then and there! So you'll get a free pass, but if you do it twice, we're kicking you out of the tournament! So pick your battles!"**

Almost every duelist in the crowd had a rather embarrassed look plastered on their faces when Artorius said that. "**But, even if you do win a duel, that doesn't mean that your D-Points go up. Like in a video game, once you run out of spare lives, you lose, so we thought we'd give you two chances here. With that out of the way, let's head to the third rule! You can duel anywhere in the park, we only ask that you stay out restricted areas and locations that are directly beneath the rides.**

"**Fourth rule: as long as you have your duel gauntlet, you'll be treated like royalty here – Free food, free access to the entertainment here, and free shots at the games we've got. Not really a rule, but something to let you guys know.**

"**And the fifth rule, no cheating. We will have a zero tolerance policy for cheaters in this tournament, and we'll know if you're cheating. Our employees are all around and you never know who will call you out on something. And if their suspicions are founded, you will be penalized.**

"**One last thing and then I'll let you all head inside and rest before tomorrow begins. There are over a hundred and thirty of you here right now, but that doesn't mean that you're the only duelists here in this park. We've taken the time to scout out quite an impressive array of duelists who we consider to be eliminators of this tournament. If you face against them, its all or nothing, you'll lose even if you have both D-Points. But if you win, you'll be treated to a very special prize. It could be cards, it could be cash, it could be anything!**

"**And with that, I wish you all luck and hope to see the best of you still here on the second day! And remember, when the sky lights up with fireworks tomorrow at ten a.m., let the dueling begin! Goodnight!"**

And with that, Artorius and her two body guards began to walk into the hotel, with most of the duelists a little dumbstruck from the businesswoman's discussion of the rules and all that sort of stuff. However, a few of the duelists shrugged it off and walked into the hotel right after her.

Ansel was one of the former, and he couldn't help but blink a few times at the odd speech he was put to. '_Yeesh, she looks like an adult, but she certainly seems to act like a little kid…'_

"Heh, with a speech like that, how does she expect us to sleep tonight?"

Ansel turned his gaze slightly to the right, and saw a rather weird sight next to him – There was a young man who had a very dark tan, and was about half-a-foot taller than Ansel with nothing but muscle on his body. Ansel was able to tell this since the young man's clothing considered nothing more than a ragged blue vest, a pair of ripped jean shorts and a backpack slung over his shoulder. The young man's hair was short and black, yet wild to show that it was almost an azure hue to it, and his slightly rugged face had a large grin that was aimed right at Ansel. "Wouldn't ya agree?"

"Uh, are you talking to me?" Ansel questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Shoot little man, of course I am!" the tanned young man laughed loudly as he slapped Ansel on the back, really hard, almost knocking him to the ground. "I love the night before a big tournament, it's like the calm before a storm! Ya know it's gonna be tough, but you're gonna enjoy the show!

"I bet you're just as excited little man!"

"Uh, yeah…" Ansel muttered as he stood up straight, feeling out his now bruised up back. '_I swear, it feels like he broke something!'_

"A bunch of hot-blooded duelists swimming about," The tanned young man chuckled as he threw his arm around Ansel's neck and began to drag the duel monster card collector towards the hotel. "A chance to get on some free rides, some good grub, kickass dueling action, and of course, the chance to win big bucks, what more could ya want?"

'_To get away from the freak who's trying to way too hard to be friendly,'_ Ansel thought to himself as he struggled to get away from the muscular teen who apparently marked him as his friend.

"So, what brings you to this tournament?" the muscular teen asked as he leaned down and pushed Ansel a little faster into the hotel. "The food? The prizes? The rides?"

"Uh, yeah, something like that," Ansel muttered as he slipped through the older teen's headlock and stood up straight. "Look, I'd love to sit and chat, but I gotta get to my supposed room for the night and get ready for the start of the tournament. So yeah, gotta go!"

And with that, Ansel quickly slipped through the crowds of duelists through the large expansive lobby of the hotel room. All the while, the tanned skinned young man merely smirked wildly, "Heh, looks like I'll have to keep an eye on him, that guy looks interesting!"

**TTTTTTTT**

_Time: Midnight  
Location: ?, Cress Paradise_

In the depths beneath the soon to be awaken amusement park, a large room that was barely lit with several torches. The room was decorated with several panes of stained glass around it with a large circular table in the middle of the room. Around the table, five shadowed figures sat silently, four of had their gazes aimed at the head of the table where the fifth figure was seated, their hands interlocked. "All of the guests have arrived… It's only a matter of time now…"

"Bah! Why do we need these snot nosed punks?" one of the more burley members of the group. "We can do this ourselves!"

"Heh, you've already forgotten?" a smaller, more petite member of the circle chuckled. "Oh! That's so hilarious, Rookie!"

"DON'T… CALL ME… THAT!" The burley member snarled as he slammed his fist into the table.

"EEEEEP!" The petite member yelped loudly. "Rookie's being mean again!"

"DAMN IT!" 'Rookie' roared loudly once more.

"That's enough you two!" a fourth voice sounded through the room. This time the voice originated from one of the sleeker members in the room. "We don't have time to deal with this, in less than half a day, we will finally achieve our organization's goal…"

It was at those words that every single member in the room turned towards the largest stained glass wall, which depicted a large and powerful man dressed in silver armor with a large saber grasped in his hands. The man himself was surrounded by several knights, each of which knelt down in his presence.

"Glory to the king's hand…"

**TTTTTT**

_Time: 9:23 a.m.  
Location: Outside Joliant Hotel_

With a loud yawn, Ansel slowly strolled out of the hotel, his arms held over his head as he stretched them out. "I barely got any sleep last night…"

It wasn't due to any excitement or anything, it was just that the room right next to Ansel was blaring with music and laughter, and no matter how much he banged on the walls, nothing really silenced the boisterous group. It wasn't until three in the morning that the group finally managed to shut up and let Ansel sleep.

But even then, Ansel couldn't get much sleep, there was just something that kept him up most of the night. He couldn't tell what the hell it was, but it still kept him up all the same.

Still, with the night gone and the sun shining from above, Ansel couldn't help but smirk. If he played his cards right (rather literally), he could hopefully find a couple of opponents that were in his own league and possibly enjoy the rest of day with some of the perks of being invited.

From his point of view, Ansel was able to get a good look at the amusement park. When he got into his room last night, Ansel found a map of the attractions and learned that the park was divided up into a number of smaller sub-sections: The one section that he was in at the moment was known as Joliant, the more festive of the sections (according to the map at least) and had a majority of the rides and attractions in it. '_This place certainly has weird names to it – Joliant, Volk, Mira-Mira, and Breezegale… And I think I know who named it…'_

Ansel's mind immediately pictured a familiar entrepreneur, only with her eyes blocked off by a conveniently placed black bar. '_My mind has begun to censor her… Thank you subconscious.'_

But back to what Ansel was looking at in real life, from the hotel, there were a number of rides and tents that were sprung up around the area. The park was barely opened, but there were still quite a number of families and people walking about, waiting for the rides to come to life.

'… _Maybe Breezegale would be a good place to hang out for more fair-weather duelists,'_ Ansel thought as he adjusted his duel disk on his arm, when he got into the game, his parents were so hoping that Ansel would turn pro and bought him one of the older versions of the duel disk system so that he would start off just like the real champions. However, being more of a collector of the cards than a duelist, Ansel rarely found a need to don the device. '_I'm surprised the thing even fits me, they got it for me seven years ago!'_

As Ansel walked away from the hotel, he lifted up his left arm and grimaced, '_… Note to self, when this is over, invest in a weight set…'_

Unbeknownst to the young duel monster collector, as he was heading for Breezegale, two pairs of eyes were watching him walk.

'_Heh, I can already tell, he's got that fire in him… I just gotta throw some fuel on that duelist flame!'_

'… _I hope I chose right here…'_

The walk through Joliant didn't have any real significant events going on for Ansel, save for the fact that he had to dodge a few of the little kids that were running around. But when the clocks struck ten a.m….

BOOM! BANG! BAM!

Several fireworks erupted through the air over Cress Paradise, brightening the sky even further, but they weren't the only things that appeared in the sky. Several holograms appeared in the sky, each of them depicting several Duel Monsters that flew through the air.

A Red Eyes Black Dragon flew through the air, releasing dark red flames through the air, with a number of smaller dragon monsters flying about it. Also through the air was a Dark Magician who disappeared into a large black top hat that had a question mark on it. The hat then multiplied and the headpieces shuffled amongst each other…

Those were but two of the many holograms that Ansel was able to see – apparently, Cress Paradise had an artificial river built into it, and the Duel Monster Collector was standing atop of the bridge that connected Joliant with Breezegale which was designed to be a sort a mini suspended bridge. And with a loud sigh Ansel turned his attention away from the sky, "As much as I would love to watch the sky, I should get those two duels out of the way so I can stay in the tournament till tomorrow…"

"Then let's get our duel done first!"

Just as Ansel was turning around to see where the source of that yelling was, a thick muscular arm clotheslined his neck and he was dragged a few feet. "URK!"

Then with a quick stop, Ansel's assailant practically threw him a few feet back and onto his backside. With a bit of grunt, Ansel slowly pushed himself back to his feet and his eyes widened to see a finger pointed straight towards his face. "W-What the!"

"Come! Activate your duel disk! Draw your cards!" the owner of the finger commanded. "Let's settle this man-to-man!"

Ansel's eyes widened when he realized that the hand belonged to a familiar face – The very same tanned man who had put Ansel into a headlock just last night! "YOU!"

"Yes! Me!" the tanned man laughed loudly as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. The man in question didn't look any different than he did the previous day – Wild dark azure hair, same blue, light clothing, and the same goofy smirk that was aimed directly at Ansel. "Your first opponent here at the Cress Paradise Tournament and the master of the blue – Kajiki Ao! At your service!"

Now that he was back on his feet, Ansel couldn't help but glare daggers at the 'Master of the Blue', hoping that his glare would be enough to drive the hot-blooded teen away from him. Unfortunately, in the face of that smirk, his glare was quickly overpowered. "So… What the hell do you want?"

"The tournament's just begun," Ao explained as he lifted up his left arm, revealing his blue duel disk. "I raise my duel disk… And you still question why I'm before you? You must be one hard headed duelist!"

"Hey!" Ansel snapped back. "I'll have you know I'm one of the smarter members of my high school class, thank you very much! I had a feeling that you wanted a duel, but by the fact that you've assaulted me twice in the last twenty-four hours, I was a little confused with your intentions."

"My grandfather told me in order to get some of the best duels around," Ao explained with a wag of his finger. "You gotta be aggressive sometimes. He used to bait his opponents, I prefer to go out and seek them out myself! And when I talked with ya last night, I knew that you'd be the perfect opponent to start this duel off!

"I'll awaken that duelist spirit in ya and that'll really get my own duelist soul – So I'll be pumped up for the rest of this tournament!"

"Sounds like you've got a real plan there," Ansel muttered to himself with his eyes closed.

"Indeed," Ao stated as he pumped his fist towards Ansel. "So, green man – What do you say? Do you accept my duelist's challenge?"

Ansel opened his eyes, took a deep breath and calmly stated, "No."

Ao almost fell face first into the ground when he heard Ansel's answer, and immediately he stood up straight and slammed his foot into the ground, "W-WHAT! WHY DIDN'T YOU ACCEPT?"

"Two reasons," Ansel stated as he lifted two of his fingers up. "Reason one, I have no interest in dueling someone who hurts me. And reason two, I'm more of a collector than a duelist, so I'm here to find a duelist who's more on my level."

"But… But…" Ao started as Ansel spun around on his heel and began to walk away. "You can't say no! You need to duel!"

"Yes, but I don't need to duel you," Ansel replied as he lifted his hand up into the air. "So have a good day Ao, and maybe I'll see you later in the tournament."

Ao blinked a few times as he watched Ansel walk away… '_Looks like I'll have to resort to grand-dad's tactics…'_

"Wait! If you choose to duel me, I'll give you a rare card!"

And just like that, Ansel stopped dead in his tracks, but kept his gaze forward.

"You say you're a collector, right?" Ao chuckled as he began to walk closer towards the slightly shorter teen. "Then if you accept my challenge, you'll get one of my rarer cards that I have! No questions asked!"

"… Win or lose, I get the card, right?" Ansel stated, still not turning back to look at Ao.

"Win or lose," Ao answered with a smirk.

Almost immediately, Ansel spun on his heel and lifted up his duel disk, "Then let's duel!"

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Ao laughed loudly as he activated his duel disk.

All the while on the bridge to Breezegale, a number of patrons were watching the rather amusing show between the two duelists (they thought it was a stage show for the park between two hired duelists), and when the two duelists announced that they were about to duel, the crowd backed up slightly.

At the same time, both duelists held up their decks and slipped them into their duel disks' deck slots, both of them staring each other down.

**TTTT~ Meanwhile… ~TTTT**

In the supposed head offices of Cress Paradise, Artorius and several other executives were watching a large overhead map of the amusement park on a large computer screen in the room. All at once, several dots appeared on the screen each of them bringing up several windows that displayed a number of duelists dueling each other.

"And so… It begins…" Artorius chuckled to herself as she sat back in her chair, her arms thrown behind her head. "It's… SHOWTIME!"

**TTTTTTTT**

Standing a good twenty feet apart, Ansel and Ao lifted up their duel disks and drew from the tops of their decks, each of them having five cards in their hands. "DUEL!"

Ansel plucked off a sixth card from his deck, "Since you were tenacious enough to goad me into this duel, I'll be glad to take the first turn!" (AnLP: 8000)

"Feel free to do so!" Ao laughed loudly as he crossed his arms over his toned chest. "In fact, I'd be disappointed if ya didn't!" (AoLP: 8000)

"I get the feeling you don't usually get disappointed," Ansel stated as he looked over the six cards in his hand.

"Most of the time, yeah!" Ao replied with a tilt of his head. "It takes a lot to kill my buzz, and you're more than welcomed to try, but I doubt you'll be able to do it."

"I wasn't gonna try," Ansel muttered under his breath as he slapped a card onto his duel disk. "I set a monster in defense mode and I'll set two cards face down – Turn end!"

As the three cards materialized in front of Ansel, Ao raised an eyebrow. "Really? Defensively on the first turn? That's so clichéd to begin this with."

"Oh? And how would you start this duel out?" Ansel replied with a narrowed gaze.

"I'll be glad to show ya!" Ao stated as he pulled the top card from his deck and immediately spun the card around in his fingers. "I'd start by summoning this! The mighty Hammer Shark!"

Ao slapped the card onto his duel disk, but no monster appeared. Ansel may not have been an expert of dueling, but he knew that a duel disk would be able to…

Before he could continue his train of thought a loud splash echoed through the air and a large blue scaled shark leapt from the water next to the bridge. The monster definitely resembled its namesake – A hammer shark, but had its head replaced with that of a large metallic part of a hammer with jaws on it. The shark snarled at Ansel as it floated through the air (1700/1500).

"And while goofy looking, my Shark can be as dangerous as its real life counterpart," Ao explained as he held up another card from his hand. "Once per turn, I can lower its level by one in order to special summon a level three or lower Water monster from my hand! So, come on out Defender of the Ice Barrier!"

The Hammer Shark roared loudly as a large pillar of ice erupted on the bridge, the ice immediately shattered and revealed a small orange furred fox with blue armor and icicles all over its body. The beast shook its fur, sending a number of icicles from its body (200/1600). "And by the way, this guy's a Tuner monster!"

Ansel held up his duel disk as Ao threw his hand up into the air. The Defender of the Ice Barrier barked loudly before it shattered into three light blue rings that flew around the Hammer Shark's body. The shark snarled loudly before its body transformed into three stars that erupted into a powerful pillar of light that crashed into the bridge behind Ao. "_From the deepest depths of the ancient sea, the titan of the deep awakens – Synchro Summon! _

"_Primordial Daedalus!"_

The pillar of light dove off of the bridge, and immediately the water around the bridge began to surge, sending holographic water flying over all of the patrons. But at the same time, a large blue and silver scaled sea-dragon erupted over the bridge, its insanely long body coiling around the bridge until it stopped with its coral covered face hanging right over Ao's body. Water and coral dripped from the sea-dragon's body before it roared greatly (2600/1500).

'_A monster like that in the first turn!'_ Ansel thought to himself as his eyes widened at the towering sea-serpent. '_I expected something big, but nothing that big!'_

"And now, I'll enact my ancient sea dragon's ability!" Ao announced as he reached into his duel disk's graveyard slot and held up Defender. "By removing a Water monster from my graveyard, I can take a field spell card from my deck! Three guesses what I'm going to use, and the first two don't count!"

After Ao pocketed the card in his vest chest pocket, the tanned duelist held his hand up to his deck and caught a single card that popped out from the stack of cards. And almost immediately, he lifted his duel disk up and a slot opened up at the end of the disk, "That's right boys and girls! I'm playing the signature field spell card – A Legendary Ocean!"

The moment that the field card slot closed, a large tidal wave surged over the bridge and immediately crashed down on the two duelists, enveloping them and the large crowd that was watching the duel underwater. Thankfully it was only a hologram, so no one really got wet or hurt (although, a number of little kids were scared of what just happened), and some even marveled at the sight of all of the holographic fish that swam around the dueling area.

Even the Primordial Daedalus seemed to smirk at being in its element. "I don't need to explain this to you, green guy, but thanks to this field spell, all water monsters on the field and in my hand gain two hundred attack and defense, but in return, they lose a level. Not that losing a level is a bad thing.

"But, like all members in the Daedalus family, this big guy has a special ability with the power of Umi around it…"

'_That's right, almost all of the monsters related to Daedalus need to send Umi to the grave to enact their effects,'_ Ansel thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes at the large sea-serpent that was snarling at him. '_The original Daedalus can clear the field, Neo can clear the field and both players' hands, and the smaller versions only target two or less cards on the field. _

'_So, what can this oversized snake do?'_

"But…" Ao confidently chuckled as he crossed his arms. "I don't need to show off his effects right now, I just need to show off his attack!"

'_Wait… What?'_

"Primordial Daedalus! Devour his face down monster!"

The large coral armored sea-dragon surged its head forward, aiming for the face down monster, but Ansel only smirked as he pushed a button on his duel disk. "Big mistake! You should've showed off your monster's effect! I activate my trap card – Dimensional Prison!"

Ansel smirked as a large vortex appeared right in front of the Primordial Daedalus, the vortex drawing in a large amount of water. "So your monster gets removed from the field and…"

However, the large sea-serpent dove through the vortex and chomped its powerful teeth on the face down monster. Ansel's jaw dropped at the sight before him, "What the hell? My trap should've…"

"Was a waste," Ao stated as Daedalus waved its head around a number of times. "You see, while Umi is out on the field, my Daedalus is unaffected by effects, even my own! So, it can't gain my field's boost or level decrease…

"But that's not a problem! Especially since he's a powerhouse right then and there! Daedalus! Quit playing with your food!"

The mighty sea-dragon closed its mighty jaw, shattering the face down monster into millions of shards that floated through the water. But the smirk immediately reappeared on Ansel's face, "Thanks, Ao! That face down monster you attacked was my Nimble Momonga! And when defeated in battle, not only do I gain one thousand life points…" (AnLP: 9000)

Two cards shot out from Ansel's deck and he held them up in front of his face before he slapped them onto his duel disk, making two face down monsters appear in front of him. "I get two more face down in defense mode!"

"Hmm, that's a rather old strategy," Ao admitted as Daedalus nodded in agreement. "Especially by today's standards…"

"Sometimes the old strategies are the best," Ansel replied as he narrowed his brow. "Besides, unlike you, I can be subtle with my strategies."

"Ooh, that one cut deep," Ao chuckled as he slipped a single card into his duel disk. "But we'll see about that. One card set, and I'll end my turn!"

"Then draw!" Ansel announced as he pulled off the top card from his deck. Slowly, Ansel brought the card down to his eyes and he nodded. "Hmm… Tell me something Ao, does your eyesore there have any other effects I should be aware of?"

"Heh, he's got his field spell search ability," Ao counted off by counting on his fingers. "He's got his invulnerability, and his final ability treats him as the original Daedalus."

'_Interesting synchro monster,'_ Ansel thought to himself as he looked over the cards in his hand. '_But at the moment, I'm more interested in that face down card he's got – If he's a water duelist, and one that's got some sense to him, then there's only one card that face down card can be…_

'_Luckily for me, I've got a little trick up my sleeve right here…'_

"I play the spell card – Mystical Space Typhoon!"

Ao's eyes widened as a powerful whirlpool appeared in the middle of the field, "Ah, nice, well, I guess I should say goodbye to my field spell…"

"Nope!" Ansel stated as he threw his hand across the field. "My target is your face down card!"

Ao lifted his arm up as the twister struck the face down card, making it lift up to reveal a large geyser of water on the hot pink colored card before it shattered. "URK!"

"Heh, just as I figured," Ansel chuckled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Torrential Tribute! Not a bad card, but it's useless if you've got a bad poker face. And now, to take down your fish… And I've got just the card right here!"

Ansel slapped a card onto his duel disk and several leafs began to float through the water until they clumped together into a huge pile. The pile then scattered to reveal a small, cartoonish lynx dressed in a green shirt that had a paw print design on it, the lynx hissed loudly at the fact that it was underwater (500/600). "My bad Nyanto, I should've known that you and water don't mix. Really sorry about that.

"Anyway, this is Nyanto, Traveler of the Forest! And he'll be the one to take down that overgrown tuna you got there!"

"Two things," Ao snickered. "One, Daedalus isn't a tuna, he's a sea-dragon. And two, even if he was an oversized tuna, using a little kitty cat like that isn't going to do much damage to him."

"Then let's start by changing the setting!" Ansel stated as he lifted his own duel disk up into the air. "I activate the field spell card – Closed Forest!"

The water around the two duelists began to drain away as several trees sprouted from the bridge and immediately wrapped around the duelists, the crowds, the monsters, and the bridge itself. Daedalus growled loudly as its advantage disappeared, Ansel and Nyanto however puffed out their chests and smirked at the same time, "And thanks to this card, all Beast monsters on my field gain an additional hundred attack points for each monster in my graveyard, of course, at the moment that's only one.

"But that's beside the point! What is the point is that Nyanto can take down that overgrown tuna!"

Nyanto's large cartoonish eyes gleamed before he leapt into the air (500/600 + 100/0) and begun to spin around through the air. Daedalus snarled as it surged it's head towards the spinning lynx, prepared to devour the feline. However, Nyanto threw its tail outwards and immediately slammed the furry appendage right into the snout of the large sea-dragon and a loud cracking sound echoed through the air.

For a moment, both monsters were frozen in place, but almost all at once, several cracks erupted over Primordial Daedalus' body and the sea dragon roared in pain. Nyanto however spun around in the air and landed atop of Daedalus' head, and opening its mouth wide, the lynx bit down hard on the skin through the coral armor.

And just like that, Daedalus shattered, making Nyanto fall to the ground with a piece of Daedalus stuck between its teeth, munching on the piece as it landed on the ground.

Needless to say, Ao was speechless at what just happened.

"In case you're wondering," Ansel chuckled as with a smirk on his face as he watched Nyanto munch on the piece of sea-dragon. "Nyanto has a really powerful effect, when a field spell is activated, I can instantly destroy one of your cards! And since your field spell was no long out, that made Daedalus a fish out of water!"

Several groans sounded through the air around the two duelists, making Ansel look around with his eyes narrowed. "I'm not a comedian! Cut me a break!"

However, a loud laughter shattered the groans and Ansel turned towards Ao who was laughing loudly, "YES! There it is! That's the duelist I've chosen to start this tournament! I've never even heard of Nyanto!"

"Well, it's a rare card," Ansel explained as he reached for his duel disk. "There are perks to be a collector, but anyway, I'll flip up both of my Momongas to attack mode!"

Both of the face down monsters on Ansel's field flipped up to reveal a pair of similar flying squirrels that squeaked loudly (1000/100 + 100/0 x2). "And now, all three of my monsters attack you directly!"

Ao's smile never left his face, even as Nyanto slammed his tail into his forehead and the two Momongas slammed into his stomach, but they all did make him skid backwards. (AoLP: 5200)

"Heh… Nice one, real nice one…" Ao chuckled as he held his slightly bruised chest. "I'm surprised that you were able to draw first blood, but that's simply awesome!"

With a shake of his head, Ansel looked at his head, "You get dropped on your head as a kid?"

"Huh? What does that have to do with anything?" Ao asked with a few question marks popping over his head. "I can duel just fine, I've got the blood of my grand-father pumping in my veins and as long as I've got that fiery spirit, I'll be able to get through anything!"

"… That had nothing to do with what I asked," Ansel sighed loudly as he lowered his head. "Anyway, I'm ending my turn."

"And thus we start back to mine!" Ao announced as he pulled off the top card from his deck and spun the card around, giving him four cards in his hand. "And I'll start setting one monster face down. And I'll set two cards as well! Turn end!"

The three cards materialized in front of Ao, allowing the duelist to have a semblance of a defense. And the tanned young man merely smirked wildly.

Ansel on the other hand just shrugged his shoulders before he drew his next card. "Alright, your choice weirdo, as for me, I'll summon another member of the forest, this time it'll be Kon, Tactician of the Forest!"

The moment that Ansel slapped the card onto his duel disk, more leafs floated down from the trees, each of them conglomerating with each other until the huge pile touched the ground. The moment that the leafs touched the ground they were scattered and in their place was another cartoony beast, only this one was a small fox dressed in a green vest and cap with a large leaf in its cartoony paws. The most comical thing about this snickering fox was the fact that on the bridge of its nose were a small pair of glasses that gleamed greatly (900/900 + 100/0).

A number of members of the audience couldn't help but coo at the sight of two cute little creatures on Ansel's field, even if one of them had eaten a piece of the opposing monster and the other was smirking greatly at all the attention he was getting. All the while, Ansel himself was smirking greatly. "And Kon's got a real awesome ability with my deck, once per turn I can select one field spell out on the field and return it to its owner's hand.

"And since I'm the only one with a field spell out," Ansel stated as Kon pushed up his glasses with his paw…

All of the trees began to disappear around the two duelists and the watching crowd, but Ansel casually held up the card again, "Three guesses what my next move is, and the first two guesses don't count…"

"Hey! That's my line!" Ao pouted as he pushed a button on his duel disk. "And I can already see what you're up to, so I'm playing my face down card – The powerful Compulsory Evacuation Device! Now, one monster on the field returns to the hand… I choose Nyanto!"

A large mechanical box appeared underneath Nyanto's paws, scaring the little feline before the top of the box shot through the air, sending it flying into the sky before it disappeared into a star.

Ansel sheepishly pulled the card from his duel disk, '_Well, there goes that plan for now…'_

Reaching for his duel disk, Ansel shifted two cards and the two Momongas (1000/100 x2) crouched down, "I switch my two Momongas to defense mode and call it a turn."

"Kinda rained on your parade, didn't it?" Ao chuckled as he pulled off the top card from his deck.

"Most duels are like that," Ansel replied as Ao tucked the card he drew into his duel disk.

"Well then, let's make this a storm then, shall we?" Ao suggested as he reached for the card on his duel disk. "I flip up my face down monster – Morphing Jar!"

Ansel's eyes widened when he saw living jar in front of him, cackling loudly (700/600). Ansel looked at the four cards in his hand and immediately slipped them into his duel disk's graveyard while Ao slipped the single card he had into his graveyard slot. "No need to get mad, we do get replacements."

'_Yeah, but Closed Forest was one of my better field spells,'_ Ansel thought as both duelists pulled off the top five cards from their decks.

"Now then, let's change the scenery once again!" Ao announced as his duel disk's field slot opened up again. "Welcome back to the Legendary Ocean!"

For a second time, a large tidal wave crashed over the bridge, immediately engulfing the entire dueling field underwater. And Ao just simply held up one of his four remaining cards up. "And now, it's time for a real big catch! Since my field spell lowers the level of all Water monsters in my hand by one, I only need one sacrifice to summon this bad boy! So thanks Morphing Jar, you really helped out, but I need you to take a rest!"

The Morphing Jar cackled loudly before it disappeared.

"Now, meet my ace monster!" Ao announced as he slapped the card onto his duel disk.

The entire holographic ocean began to rumble, making Ansel and most of the patrons stagger on the bridge. However, when the entire area began to grow dark, Ansel turned his head up and saw a humungous blue scaled fish swimming over the field, it's mouth wide open to reveal the many rows of teeth on it. And as the fish began to swim down over Ao, Ansel was able to see that on the back of the fish was what appeared to be scales that made a sort of crown (2800/2200 + 200/200). "There's always a bigger fish…"

"Not as big as Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth!" Ao laughed loudly as he held one card from his hand. "And he's only gonna get badder, since I can use his effect right now! By discarding my Gozen Match, my monster allows me to special summon as many level four or lower fish monsters from my deck!

"This is a big catch of the day – So I'll choose Big Jaws, Needle Sunfish, Piercing Moray, and Shocktopus!"

Four more shadows swam through the water – one of which was a large shark with a bladed fin on its back and large metallic teeth (1800/300 + 200/200), another which was a blue sunfish (1500/100 + 200/200), the third was a large moray eel that had a large horn atop of its head (1500/500 + 200/200), and the last one was a small octopus whose head resembled that of a red swordfish's head (1600/800 + 200/200).

"Of course, my catches can't attack or use their effects since I summoned them this way," Ao stated with a large smirk on his face. "But, I don't need to use their attacks or abilities for my next move. I construct the overlay network! Using my level two Big Jaws and my level two Needle Sunfish!"

Both of the declared monsters transformed into blue lights that flew through the water, with a large deep blue vortex appearing on the bridge in front of Ao. Both of the lights flew into the vortex before it exploded greatly, "Now, I connect the overlay network in order to Exceed Summon…

"Trident Seahorse!"

From the remains of the vortex, a large imposing aquatic warrior appeared in front of Ao, its blue and dark purple armor jagged and covered with coral, with several fins jutting from its shoulders, waist and back. In the aquatic warrior's hands was a large golden trident that the monster spun effortlessly in the water (1800/1000 + 200/200). Two orbs of blue light floated around the monster's body, glowing brighter with each passing second. "And my Seahorse has a powerful ability, for each Overlay Unit under it, all of my Fish, Sea-Serpent, and Aqua type monsters gain three hundred extra attack and defense points!

"So my catches all get six hundred points stronger!"

Ansel's eyes widened as the blue light from the two overlay units ebbed through the water, empowering not only the Seahorse (2000/1200 + 600/600), but also Coelacanth (3000/2400 + 600/600), the Piercing Moray (1700/700 + 600/600) and the Shocktopus (1800/1000 + 600/600).

"And if one Exceed monster is good," Ao stated as the Piercing Moray and Shocktopus transformed into streams of blue light. "Then we'll see how good two are at the same time! Open the Overlay Network once more!"

Once again, a large deep blue vortex appeared on the bridge, absorbing both of the blue lights into it, and immediately it exploded. "So, I'll Exceed Summon Submersible Carrier Aero Shark!"

From the vortex, a pair of sharks connected with orange armor swam through the holographic armor with both of them armed with torpedo launchers. The two sharks snarled loudly as they swam with the other fish on Ao's field (1900/1000 + 200/200 + 600/600).

"Oh son-of…" Ansel sputtered under his breath.

"Sea-bass?" Ao finished as he pushed a button on his duel disk. "There are kids around here, so please refrain from being a bad influence – Although, it's gonna be a bit hard to do that when you see what I'm bringing back with Call of the Haunted… Primordial Daedalus!"

With a loud roar, the imposing, coral armored sea-dragon re-emerged around the bridge, its entire form coiling around the mass of metal (2600/1500).

Right now, Ansel really did feel like swearing…

"Trident Seahorse! Daedalus!" Ao commanded as both of the monsters nodded. "Destroy his two Momongas! Might as well get rid of them right now!"

Daedalus surged forward and immediately devoured one of the momongas while the seahorse stabbed its trident through the other one. Both flying squirrels squeaked loudly in pain before they shattered. Ansel gulped, but tried to keep up a good façade, "I… I still get their effects! Now I gain a thousand life points for each of them!" (AnLP: 11000)

"That's fine with me," Ao chuckled as he lifted a finger up towards Kon. "Besides, now that I've gotten them out of the way, I can really get on with destroying the rest of your monsters and then get onto your life points! Aero Shark! Do the honors!"

The Aero Shark snarled loudly before it launched a large number of torpedoes through the water and crashed into the bridge around Kon's body, sending the little fox through the water. (AnLP: 9200)

BA-DUM!

Ansel's eyes widened when he heard his heart beat extremely loud, his hand grasped his chest and he took a deep breath. '_T-That… That hurt! W-What the hell?'_

"And now…" Ao chuckled as he threw his hand up into the air. "Coelacanth! Dinner time!"

Turning away from the pain in his chest, Ansel looked up just in time to see the large ancient fish swim towards him with its mouth wide open. "Oh hell no!"

However, Ansel could only stand there was the large fish closed its jaws around his body and lifted Ansel up off of the bridge. However, just as Coelacanth took a bite, its eyes widened and it spat Ansel back onto the bridge with its tongue sticking out of its mouth. Ansel on the other hand was covered with holographic blue salvia, his entire body shaking visibly. (AnLP: 5600)

"Huh, Coelacanth must not like the taste of you," Ao stated with a shrug of his shoulders. "You must use hair gel or something…"

"DON'T JOKE AROUND!" Ansel snapped as he slowly got to his feet, but his legs shook slightly as he tried to do so. "What the hell is going on? I… I could practically feel those teeth wrap around me!"

"Man, solid vision is really something now-a-days," Ao muttered under his breath as he rubbed the back of his head. "For you to be attacked and lifted up like that… That's amazing!"

'_I feel like I'm about to fall to pieces here,'_ Ansel thought as he grabbed his stomach, which was practically burning with pain. '_And he's amused with the fact that the holograms are a lot more realistic! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY!'_

"Anyway, my turn's over with," Ao stated as all four of his creatures snarled loudly. "But next turn, you're gonna be chum, my chum. Heh… I made a little joke…"

'_Okay, that's it… Until I figure out what the hell is going on here,'_ Ansel thought as he reached for his deck. '_I should probably just surrender this duel and…'_

However, before Ansel could continue his train of thought, he drew from the top of his deck and looked at the cards in his hand. '_W-Wait… No… I can still win this. I just need to play my cards right and not take any more damage.'_

"I summon Wandering Druid in attack mode!"

Ansel slapped the card onto his duel disk and several roots erupted from the bridge, forming into a beautiful, young woman in a leaf-like tunic and long green hair that held a small leaf-like charm in her hair (1300/200). The woman brought her hands together and began to chant under her breath. "And I'll end my turn with that!"

"Hmm? Not even going to defend with her?" Ao questioned as he raised an eyebrow at the weird monster before he drew. "I gotta say, if you're hoping that I don't attack her cause she's got a pretty face – Then you're on the wrong side of a losing bet."

Ao looked at the card he just drew and nodded, "So, I'll go straight into my battle phase, and have my Aero Shark do the honors of destroying your… What'd you call it again?"

"A druid," Ansel replied calmly with his arms crossed.

"Right, Aero Shark!" Ao shouted with his arm thrown forward. "Take aim and FIRE!"

All of the torpedoes launched from the Aero Shark's launchers, each of them flying through the air towards the Wandering Druid… However, the green themed girl opened her eyes and held her hands up in front of her.

And just like that, the torpedoes stopped dead in their tracks and popped into millions of leafs that floated through the water. Ao blinked a few times as he watched his attack fizzle out, "Huh? What just happened?"

"My Druid's effect happened," Ansel explained as he tapped the side of his head a few times. "When a Beast, Beast-Warrior or Plant-type monster is targeted for an attack, I can negate that attack and end the battle phase. But I can only do that once while she's face up."

"Heh, not too shabby!" Ao chuckled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "But unless you can summon another one of those leafy ladies, you aren't gonna last too long against my denizens of the deep!

"Speaking off, I'll use Primordial Daedalus' ability again, this time I'll remove Hammer Shark in order to take back another field spell from my deck!"

A single card popped out of Ao's deck, and he spun it around, "I'll take my third Legendary Ocean, just in case ya try to destroy my field spell. And for good matter, I'll set one card face down as well."

The face down card emerged in front of Ao, and underneath all four of his snarling creatures. "So, bring it on! I can't wait to see what you can pull off with that little strategy of yours!"

Ansel slowly drew from his deck and looked at the cards in his hand, '_He wants to see a strategy? I'll show him a winner right here and now!'_

"First I'm playing my spell card!" Ansel announced as he turned the card he just drew around. "The spell card – Ground Breaking Discovery!"

As Ansel slipped the card into his duel disk, the spell card emerged to reveal a young archeologist looking over a sweating Morphing Jar. "This card is a little bit of gamble, but I don't have to worry about it. Now, I can declare a card name, and if you have it in your hand, I can make you send it to the graveyard!"

Ao's eyes widened as he looked at the few cards in his hand.

"And I'll go with the card you just showed me!" Ansel announced as he threw his hand forward. "A Legendary Ocean!"

Ao's surprise disappeared into a small little smirk as he turned the card around in his hand, "Oh, however did you know I had that card? Nice guess, so, what do you get?"

As Ao fitted the card into his duel disk's graveyard slot, Ansel pulled off the top card from his deck, "My spell allows me to draw a card from my deck… And that's not all, I can add a field spell from my graveyard to my hand! So I'll take back my Closed Forest!

"But before I can play it, I'll play my face down card – my own Call of the Haunted!"

From the ground, the familiar, cute lynx appeared with a hiss at Ao (500/600). "I trust you remember Nyanto…

"And I hope you remember his ability! I activate the field spell – Closed Forest!"

Once again, the water around the two duelists and the crowd of spectators subsided with the large encircling trees covering the field now. Both Nyanto and the Wandering Druid smiled brightly in the new setting (500/600 + 600/0). However, the four fish and sea-serpents on Ao's field seemed displeased (2500/1600) (2400/1600) (3400/2800). "And now, two effects activate! First, Nyanto's! And I'll destroy your face down card!"

Nyanto mewed loudly before it leapt through the air and slammed its tail into the face down card, shattering the card into millions of pixels that scattered through the air. "And for my second trick, I'll normal summon Little Fang Witch!"

A small howl echoed through the air, and a small shadowed blur appeared in front of Ansel, and immediately shaped up into a small young lass with long black hair with a silver wolf skin cloak that covered most of her body, save for her cute face and yellow eyes (800/500 + 600/0). She howled loudly as a powerful light emanated from her body. "And her ability allows me to special summon her from my hand whenever one of three types of monsters is special summoned."

"Impressive, ya gonna Exceed summon or something?" Ao questioned with a lick of his lips, the anticipation was starting to get to him.

"Nope, I'm going for what you did in your first move," Ansel announced as he threw his hand forward. "A Synchro Summon!"

"I see, but you'll need a tuner for that," Ao chuckled to himself. "And all I see is that you've got three effect monsters."

"For once you're right," Ansel replied as the Little Fang Witch's eyes glowed brightly. "However, if there's a field spell out on the field, then I can treat her as a tuner monster!"

The Little Fang Witch smirked before she leapt into the air, transforming into three rings of light that wrapped around the Wandering Druid and Nyanto. Both of the forest dwellers transformed into five stars that flew through the rings. "And now, this allows me to synchro summon…"

Before Ansel could continue, Ao yawned loudly. "What's wrong?"

"You aren't gonna do an intro speech for your synchro monster?" Ao asked with a raised eyebrow. "Seems kinda boring to just summon it without an intro…"

Ansel slapped his forehead as the light died down to reveal a large silver furred wolf covered with golden armor that gleamed in the light and in the wolf's mouth was a dual bladed sword that its teeth gripped tightly. The beast snarled loudly as it dug its claws into the bridge (2800/2000 + 900/0). "You're being overdramatic – This is my Great Lunar Fang! And he'll be the one to take your army of fish down!

"Fang! Start us off by destroying his Trident Seahorse!"

The sword wielding beast snarled loudly before it leapt across the field and slashed both ends of the blade into the sea creature it faced, shattering the monster into millions of pixels that crashed into Ao's body. (AoLP: 3900)

Ao chuckled under his breath as he fitted the card into his duel disk's graveyard slot. "Not bad, you got rid of my booster, so my other creatures get weaker…"

Indeed, the Aero Shark (1900/1000), Coelacanth (2800/2200) and even Primordial Daedalus (2600/1500) seemed to grow in annoyance to losing their companion. "But even so, I can topple your big bad wolf next turn and…"

"There won't be a next turn for ya!" Ansel announced with Lunar Fang roaring alongside him. "You see, my Lunar Fang has an amazing ability too! If he destroys a monster as a result of battle, and you still have another monster out, he can attack again! And again, so long as you've got a monster out!"

"True, but when you tackled my Seahorse," Ao chuckled as a ghostly version of the Needle Sunfish appeared in front of him. "You also activated my Needle Sunfish's ability, when sent to the graveyard, one of your monsters loses five hundred attack points for the rest of the turn!"

The ghostly sunfish opened up its mouth, which turned out to be the full length of its body up to its tail, and revealed a number of needles that the fish shot out and struck the Lunar Fang. For a moment, the armored beast nearly dropped its sword from its mouth (3700/2000 – 500/0). "So, if my math is right, even if you attack all of my other monsters, I should be able to survive this turn!"

"We'll just see about that!" Ansel shouted as he pumped his arm in the air. "Lunar Fang! Finish the job!"

Even with the needles sticking out of its body, the Great Lunar Fang picked up its blade and dove towards the Aero Shark, slicing right through the dual bodied shark and making it shatter… (AoLP: 2600)

Then the moment that the wolf's paws touched the ground, the fang dove right through the Primordial Daedalus and shattered the ancient, coral armored sea-dragon into millions of pixels. (AoLP: 2000)

And finally, the Great Lunar Fang leapt even higher and spun until it became a silver and gold blur. Coelacanth roared loudly as the spinning wolf stabbed its sword into the forehead of the large fish, making the ancient deepsea king cry out in pain before it disappeared. (AoLP: 1600)

"Dang it," Ansel muttered under his breath as he looked at the last few cards in his hand. "I'll set a monster in defense mode and I'll end my turn…"

It was then that the Great Lunar Fox shook its body and knocked all of the needles off of his body, which allowed the beast to snarl slightly (3700/2000).

"It was a good shot," Ao admitted with a smirk on his face as he drew his next card. "But even if I didn't have my Needle Sunfish, I'd still survive with one hundred life points."

"Yeah, but that's okay," Ansel replied slowly crossing his arms over his chest. "You see, thanks to my field spell, my beast is stronger than any of the monsters you summoned, even with the boost of your field spell. And the only way to beat him is with your monsters, since his second effect makes him immune to your spells and traps as long as there's a field spell out on the field!"

Ao had to whistle, "Damn, that's quite a beast you've got there. I guess being a collector has its perks."

"Damn straight," Ansel laughed loudly with his ego swelling.

"Too bad I'm just about to topple that titan," Ao replied with a smirk as he held up the four cards in his hand.

"Yes, its too bad…" Ansel started until he realized what he just said/heard. "Wait… What?"

"First, I'll play the spell card – Monster Reborn!" Ao announced as a bright gleaming light surged over the field. "Now, I'll revive a familiar face… Arise my Superancient Deepsea King!"

The holographic trees behind Ao shattered to reveal a rather annoyed Coelacanth behind the aquatic duelist (2800/2000).

'_What the heck are you planning?'_ Ansel thought to himself as Ao spun around a card in his hand.

"Next, by discarding my Surfacing," Ao announced as four more cards shot out from his deck. "I can summon all the fish I want from my deck once more! So, arise Hammer Shark, Needle Sunfish, Nimble Manta, and Friller Rabca from the depths!"

Four spouts of water erupted from the ground, unleashing four other fish onto the field – The first was a copy of hammer headed shark (1700/1500), the second was a copy of the deceptive sunfish (1500/100), the third was a small white and blue manta ray (800/100), and he last one was a long yellow, water snake with bladed fins on its body (700/1500). All four of the fish swam around Coelacanth through the air.

'_Is he going to try for another Exceed Summoning?'_ Ansel thought to himself as he lifted up his duel disk.

"And now, I'll play the spell card – United We Stand!" Ao announced as he fitted the last card in his hand into his duel disk. Almost immediately, a powerful gold aura crept onto Coelacanth's body, making the large ancient fish roar loudly with the energy sinking into its body (2800/2200 + 4000/4000)

"Coelacanth! Attack his Great Lunar Fang! Power Water Cannon!"

For a moment, the ancient fish looked down at Ao as if he were crazy, but shook its head and opened its maw. Almost immediately a powerful geyser erupted from the fish's mouth and crashed into the surprised Lunar Fang, shattering the beast into millions of pixels. (AnLP: 2500)

Ansel's eyes widened when his heart began to beat loudly, almost deafening him as he fell backwards and onto the concrete of the bridge. It was as if he could feel the pain that his wolf had experienced and it was definitely not pleasant. He might as well have taken a direct attack with the pain he was feeling.

"I'll set one card face down, and end my turn," Ao announced with a large smirk on his face. "I gotta thank ya for the duel, it was definitely memorable as my first duel here at the tournament, and I hope to face out again in the days to come…"

It took Ansel a minute to process that, but when he did he took a deep breath and slowly begun to stand up, "You're talking as if you've already won… I still have life points, you're just ahead by a hundred, and I'm sure I can knock off the rest that you've got…

"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure I'll win anyway," Ao chuckled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Ya never know what's gonna happen when you draw a card – It could be the card that could save you, but it could also be the card that damns you. So, let's see what fate has in stored for you."

"How true, I draw!" Ansel announced as he pulled the top card from his deck and turned it around for him to see. '_This is…! I can win this! I just need to summon my monster and…'_

"I activate my trap card!" Ao shouted out as his face down card lifted up. "The mighty Ceasefire!"

Ansel's eyes widened as a ring of light appeared beneath his feet, and he could feel the burning sensation from the light through his shoes. "Oh. Crap…"

"Language please!" Ao scolded as Ansel's face down monster flipped up, revealing a second Kon (900/900 + 1000/0). "Although, I could let this one slide since when my trap card is activated, all face down monsters are flipped and you take five hundred points of damage for each monster on the field.

"And with your little fox, that's a total of three thousand points of damage!"

The ring of light shot upwards and immediately engulfed Ansel with the burning light. His eyes closed due to the pain and he could only take the burning.

When the light died down, Ansel fell to his knees, his clothes and hair smoldering slightly due to the onslaught of light. And then, he fell face first into the ground with a loud thud. (AnLP: 0)

Ao chuckled to himself as he looked at his duelist gauntlet's wrist, which was flashing the word – Winner! – on the screen of it. "OH YEAH! FIRST WIN OF THE TOURNAMENT! YEAH DOOD!"

"…"

As the holograms began to disappear, Ao looked over to his opponent who was still face first in the ground, "Hey man, no need to be that bummed out. You still got another duel point, and I'm sure you'll be able to win your next duel – Come on, with a strategy and that onslaught of rare cards that you've got, I'm sure you'll be able to pull a victory!"

Ansel didn't reply.

"Oh yeah!" Ao stated as he reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small binder. "I still owe ya a rare card for the duel ya gave me, well, I've got one that's perfect for your strategy!"

Still no answer…

"Yeah, so…" Ao started as he walked over to Ansel. That's when it hit him. "… Uh, are you okay?"

Yep, no answer again!

"Uh oh," Ao muttered as a dead silence went over the crowd.

Meanwhile, a few yards away at the beginning of the bridge, a familiar foxy mascot watched as Ao and several other people on the bridge run to Ansel's side to see if he was alright… '_… I guess he'll need some help after all…'_

TBC

**TTTTTTTT**

**Card Stats**

**Kon, Tactician of the Forest / Earth / LV. 3 / ATK: 900 / DEF: 900 / Beast/Effect:** Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up Field Spell card on the field; return it to the hand.**  
Description:** A cute little fox dressed in a green vest and cap with a large leaf in his cartoony hands. At the bridge of his nose are a pair of small glasses.

**Nyanto, Traveler of the Forest / Earth / LV. 2 / ATK: 500 / DEF: 600 / Beast/Effect:** When a Field Spell Card is activated: You can target 1 card your opponent controls: Destroy that target.**  
Description:** A small cartoonish lynx wearing a paw print endowed green shirt.  
The preceding two cards were used by Ruka/Luna in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's manga.

**Wandering Druid / Earth / LV. 3 / ATK: 1300 / DEF: 200 / Plant/Effect: **When a Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Plant-type monster is attacked while this card is face up on the field, you may negate the attack and end the battle phase. This effect can only be used once while this card is face up on the field.**  
Description:** a beautiful, young woman in a leaf-like tunic and long green hair that held a small leaf-like charm in her hair

**Little Fang Witch / Earth / LV. 3 / ATK: 800 / DEF: 500 / Beast/Effect: **As long as there is a face up field spell, you can treat this monster as a Tuner monster. If a Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Plant-Type monster is special summoned to your side of the field, you can special summon this card from your hand.**  
Description:** a small young lass with long black hair with a silver wolf skin cloak that covered most of her body, save for her cute face and yellow eyes

**Great Lunar Fang / Earth / LV. 8 / ATK: 2800 / DEF: 2000 / Beast/Synchro/Effect:** [1 Beast-Type Tuner monster + 2 or more monsters] This card can only be summoned by Synchro Summoned. As long as there is a face up Field Spell Card on the field, this card is unaffected by your opponent's spell and trap card effects. When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, if your opponent has another monster on the field, this card can attack once more in a row. **  
Description:** a large silver furred wolf covered with golden armor that gleamed in the light and in the wolf's mouth was a dual bladed sword that its teeth gripped tightly

**Ground Breaking Discovery! / Normal Spell / Effect:** Declare one card name. If the declared card is in your opponent's hand, they must send it to the graveyard and you may draw 1 card from the top or bottom of your deck. If not, then your opponent can draw one card. Then, you may add one Field Spell card from your graveyard to your hand.  
**Image:** a young archeologist looking over a sweating Morphing Jar

**Primordial Daedalus / Water / LV. 6 / ATK: 2600 / DEF: 1500 / Sea-Serpent/Synchro/Effect:** [1 WATER Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Monsters] This face up card is treated as 'Levia Dragon – Daedalus'. As long as 'Umi' is face up on the field, this card is unaffected by card effects. Once per turn, by removing 1 WATER monster from your graveyard, you add one Field Spell card from your deck.**  
Description:** An insanely large blue and silver scaled sea-dragon covered with coral-like armor.

**Trident Seahorse / Water / Rank 2 / ATK: 1800 / DEF: 1000 / Fish/Exceed/Effect: [**2 Level 2 WATER monsters] For each Overlay Unit on this card, increase the ATK and DEF of all face up Fish, Aqua and Sea Serpent monsters on your side of the field by 300 points. When a Fish, Aqua or Sea-Serpent monster would be destroyed by a card effect, you may remove one Overlay Unit from this card to negate the effect and destroy the card.  
**Description:** A marine warrior covered blue and dark purple armor jagged and covered with coral, with several fins jutting from its shoulders, waist and back. In the aquatic warrior's hands was a large golden trident

**TTTTTTTT**

_**Wait…**_

_**The Protagonist lost in the first chapter?**_

_**What the hell kind of story is this supposed to be?**_

_**Lux-Nero! I wasn't hired to promote losers like Ansel!**_

_**You better make him a worthwhile character in the next chapter or I'll quit in a second!**_

_**Seriously, what the hell is this crap?**_

_**When compared with Hyde, Cain or Rena, Lux-Nero really messed up with Ansel's character right at the start…**_

_**Who the hell wants to read a story about a duelist who loses the first duel in a major tournament?**_

_**Oh well…**_

_**If you guys are interested, then check out the next chapter:**_

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Foxy Lady Dueling**_

… _**And what the hell kind of a title is that for the next chapter?**_


	3. Chapter 2: Foxy Lady Dueling

_**You ever wonder if destiny is a real thing?**_

_**Edo Phoenix originally believed that destiny was set in stone, that's why he ran his infamous deck of Destiny Heroes – They practically represented his destiny for victory in his duels. And each time he would duel, he would manipulate his opponent's moves with various card combos and practically dictate what the duel would do with his Destiny Heroes.**_

_**Personally, I don't believe in such notions – The future isn't written in stone, if it were, then we'd all know what was going to happen to us in the future. Heck, I think there was a video game that had that concept used for its story where people followed a large stone tablet that could predict a person's fate from birth to death. Let's just say things didn't turn out well in the game, and it doesn't usually turn out well in real life either.**_

_**Take the 'philosophers' who made claims that the world would end – Name one of them and you'll learn that they were wrong (And yet people are still talking about how the end of the world is coming, I wish people would shut up about that already!) and thought that destiny was set in their minds and in the stone.**_

_**I guess what I'm getting at is that 'destiny' isn't something you can take at face value, at least with a 'destiny' that hasn't happened yet. If there's no evidence to support it, then I usually don't believe it.**_

_**However… With what I'm hearing… Well…**_

… _**I don't know how to respond to be honest…**_

**TTTTTT**

**Chapter 2**

**Foxy Lady Dueling**

**TTTTTTT**

_Time: ?  
Location: ?_

Ansel's eyes shot open wide, only to be met with a seemingly endless darkness…

He had no idea where he was, nor did he have any clue what had brought him to here… All he could feel was the burning pain that wrapped around his torso. Whatever caused the pain grew fiercer, and his head spun.

It was a given that something was wrong, but what it was, he couldn't tell…

This seemed all to be all too familiar… It was less than a month ago that this was all that he had to see.

"… hey…"

This was a feeling he never wanted to experience again, but here he was. His body was heavy like lead, his heart was beating loudly – loud enough to seem like a large church bell chimed in his chest countless times.

Was this is fate?

To end up like this?

Being motionless in a void with pain coursing through his entire body?

"Hey…"

It didn't sound like the most luxurious lifestyle to live. If you could even call that living.

"HEY!"

SPLOOSH!

"ARGH!"

**TTTTTTTT**

"SONVA- !"

Ansel immediately sat up and sputtered loudly, shaking whatever water was thrown on him away. "Who the hell throws water on a wounded guy!?"

"Well, when I tried shaking you, you wouldn't even stir," a slightly familiar voice scolded Ansel. "So, I went with the suggestion of using a cold shower to wake ya up."

"Once again, I have to ask, WHY!?" Ansel snapped loudly as he barred his teeth.

When Ansel was able to gather himself slightly, he finally realized that he was still outside at what appeared to be a picnic area that had a lot of shade covering it. There was hardly anyone else around the area and there was a wooden fence that surrounded the area, and the sound of children and music blared in the background. "What hap… Where am I?"

"You're at Breezegale's employee area," the familiar voice answered again.

Once again, when Ansel garnered his focus, he was immediately surprised at who was talking to him, and immediately his face grimaced slightly. "You? What in the world… You're…"

"Yep! It's me, Koko!" the mascot announced playfully as the character danced slightly in front of Ansel.

Ansel had no real reaction to the mascot's self-introduction other than a roll of his eyes. "Uh yeah… Shouldn't I be at a First Aid station or a hospital or something like that?"

"I wouldn't know that," Koko answered with a rub of the back of his head. "Some loud guy with his chest showing dragged you over to me saying that you fainted and asked if I could take you somewhere. We were closer to the break area, and I couldn't drag you all the way to the first aid station…"

"Great, I was wondering why I had gum wrappers and twigs in my hair," Ansel muttered as he pulled out a few of the mentioned pieces of trash out of his hair. "So, I fainted eh?"

"That's what the loud guy said," Koko answered with a shrug. "I watched your duel till the middle, you were really good… At least until you were practically swallowed whole by that one large fish."

"Don't remind me," Ansel gagged loudly with his tongue sticking out. "I'll never look at a piece of fish again… Wait…"

That's right, the duel… Ansel lost that match. Slowly, the collector lifted his gloved hand up and looked at the screen at his wrist. Indeed, there was but only one point displayed on the device. "Damn it, I lost… That's gonna be a pain in my ass…"

"You got a bit of a sailor's mouth, don't ya?" Koko asked with a tilt of his mascot's fox head.

"Oh shut up," Ansel spat back.

**TTTTTTT**

Meanwhile in a darkened room within Cress Paradise, two shadowed figures watched a large screen that was showing off Ansel's duel against Ao, particularly at the point when Ansel was being partially eaten by Coelacanth. The larger of the two shadows merely laughed loudly as he held up the remote, "Ha! I need to see that again! This time in slow-mo!"

The screen's images began to go in reverse, which made the smaller, and more petite figure sigh loudly. "Rookie, you're going to go blind if you watch it like that… Stand a few feet back and for your health's sake, turn on a light!"

"And I thought I told you that it was for your health's sake to not call me Rookie!" 'Rookie' snarled back as he turned his gaze at the younger figure. "Besides, I can't help but watch this – It's so pathetic to see that the duelist who's supposed to be…"

"Ugh, just hearing you complain is giving me a migraine," The petite figure growled under her breath as she rubbed her temples. "Even just hearing your voice is like nails on a chalkboard."

"Grr…" Rookie growled as he pushed a button on the remote and paused the screen. "All I'm saying is I find that this pathetic collector is supposed to be one of the keys in our plan. It's disgraceful!"

"Well, until we get the word from the boss, you'll just have to bite your tongue," The petite figure retorted.

"Feh, I wonder how you can keep that cocky attitude of yours," Rookie chuckled. "Especially when you are the weakest of us…"

The petite member didn't say anything else, but rather she turned around and began to walk away from Rookie.

"Hey! Was it something I said?!" Rookie questioned with a maniacal laughter following the question.

'_Moron…'_ the petite member thought to herself.

**TTTTTTT**

Back at the employee's area, Ansel couldn't help but sigh to himself.

Koko tilted his head slightly and held up a water bottle with his gloved hands, "Uh, there, there Mr. Reaves, its only one loss, I'm sure you can recover before the end of the day…"

"I'm not worried about the loss," Ansel sighed as he lowered his head to the table. "I'm mad because that loudmouth promised me a rare card if I dueled against him – AND I DON'T HAVE THE CARD!"

Koko had to step back from the sudden outburst and even dropped the water bottle in surprise. And yet, Ansel continued with his small mini rant, "THE ONLY REASON THAT I EVEN BOTHERED TO DUEL THAT MANIAC WAS TO GET MY HANDS ON A RARE CARD AND HE DIDN'T EVEN KEEP HIS PROMISE! IF I EVER SEE THAT GUY AGAIN, I'LL… I'LL… WELL, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'LL DO TO HIM NOW, BUT YOU BETTER BELIEVE THAT WHEN I DO FIND THE GUY, HE'LL BE SORRY! OOOOH… YEAH! HE'LL BE SORRY!"

"… Are you done being crazy?" Koko asked as he picked up the water bottle on the ground.

"… Yeah, I guess," Ansel sighed loudly before he slammed his head into the table again.

"Good, cause that 'loudmouth' actually told me to give you something when you woke up," Koko stated as he held out both of his hands. One of them obviously held the water bottle from earlier, but in the other hand was a single duel monster card that was in a plastic case. "He carefully put this card into this case and asked me to give it and the water bottle to you when you woke up."

Ansel's face turned red when he realized that he had jumped the gun… Just slightly though. With a cough, Ansel held out his hands, "Uh, thanks, I didn't mean to explode on ya… It's just been a rough time for me lately."

"Hey, no worries," Koko replied as he dumped the items on the table in front of Ansel. "We all get like that sometimes, just be glad that I'm the only one around here, otherwise you'd probably get thrown out."

"Yeah, I guess," Ansel muttered under his breath as he took the card from the table and spun it around. For a moment, Ansel just looked at the card like it was a two headed goat that had wings on its back. "What in the world? I've never even heard of this card before – The Faceless King? Looks useless…"

"You sure about that?" Koko asked as he leaned over Ansel's shoulder. "I think it suits you quite perfectly."

"You don't know a thing about me," Ansel replied with his eyes narrowed. "I only met you today and more importantly, this card doesn't even have any card text to it!"

"Actually, I met you last night," Koko answered as he waved his arms slightly. "I was the one who drove you to the hotel, remember?"

"How am I supposed remember you?" Ansel retorted as he stood up from the table with his hands on his waist. "You're dressed in that weird suit, for all I know there are six are other people dressed exactly like you in the park!"

"I thought you would've at least recognized my voice," Koko moaned under his breath. "Ya know, I didn't have to drag you over here ya know! I did it out of the kindness of my heart!"

"Why are you getting so stressed out?!" Ansel questioned with a large bead of sweat appearing on the side of his head. "You act like I'm supposed to know you, even though I've only met ya once before…"

"Humph," Koko huffed with his arms crossed.

Ansel sighed under his breath as he looked at the card again that he was given. The card itself had a white border to it, so Ansel was clearly able to tell that it was a synchro monster, but other than the gold print that told him the name of the card, there was nothing else on the card – No picture, no card text, not even that little eight-digit code that was in the corner of the card. "I can't even tell if this is a real card or not… Damn it, this means I'm gonna have to track down that loudmouth, this was probably a ruse for him to trick me into facing him again…"

"Meh, I don't think so," Koko stated as he leaned closer to the card. "Besides, like I said, I think this card really suits you."

"… Was that a shot to say that I'm a blank slate or something?" Ansel questioned with a flat look on his face. "Whatever, I don't care, I'm gonna go check out Breezegale – Maybe if I'm lucky I can find a rookie duelist here and get my second duel out of the way…"

"Well, if you want to duel," Koko suggested as he lifted his hands up. "Maybe I could…"

"… Hold it," Ansel muttered under his breath. "Before you even offer, can you even see out of that thing right there? Or even hold cards or a duel disk?"

"Uh…" Koko muttered under his breath as he poked his furry gloved hands together. "Well, maybe… I haven't really tried dueling in this suit. And it's not like I can really take it off while I'm at work…"

"Then we're done here," Ansel replied as he began to walk away from Koko. "Have a nice life, you freaky mascot."

"W-Wait!" Koko yelped but it was too late as Ansel ran out of the employee break area. "Aw man… That's not gonna be good."

Looking left and looking right, Koko sighed loudly, "Great, I'm gonna have to take an extended break now. I have no idea how this is gonna affect my paycheck."

Slowly, Koko placed his furry hands on the side of his fox-head costume and slowly began to pull it off from the rest of his costume…

**TTTTTTT**

A few minutes later, Ansel was rather in awe of how Breezegale was designed – All around the area there were a number of countless trees that shaded the same amount of shops. And Ansel had to admit that the shops, while small, seemed to have quite a selection of various goods, and currently, Ansel had his attention garnered by…

"HOLY! IT'S A FIRST EDITION TOUR GUIDE FROM THE UNDERWORLD!"

Nearly half of the nearby spectators in the area jumped when Ansel shouted out to the heavens, and the orange haired young man was practically drooling over the card that was protected with its plastic card cover. "Tell me right here, and right now, how much do you want for it?!"

"Uh, sir, t-this item isn't f-f-for sale," the surprised sales clerk stuttered, but then yelped when he noticed that Ansel was glaring daggers at him. "I-It's only for display purposes!"

"WHAT?!" Ansel snarled loudly as he barred some teeth. "This is just like dangling water to a man in the desert! It's cruel and unusual punishment!"

"S-Sorry sir," the clerk replied with his hands up. "But it's something that the head honchoes wanted me to put on display, and if I lose it, then it's gonna be my hide!"

Ansel took a deep breath and stood up, a small smile appeared on his face, "Oh come on pal. Surely if you made a profit on it you could surely see that your boss would be glad to make some cash…"

"S-Sorry sir," the clerk replied with a bowed head. "I can't… I simply can't…"

"Damn it," Ansel muttered under his breath as he spun around. "What a waste. Whatever dood… Nothing else is worth looking at…"

As Ansel walked away from the stunned clerk, he threw his arms behind his head and sighed loudly, '_Well, that may have been a bust, but seeing a beaut like that is a good once in a life-time chance – You can barely find those in mint condition now-a-days. But since I'm here, I might as well take in the sights that Breezegale…_

'_Although, I have to admit, for an amusement park, this seems more like a natural park…'_

It was true, there was certainly enough foliage around the area to make anyone think this was a city park that was being used for a flea market or maybe a summer festival. Stone cobbled sidewalks, grassy knolls, and a lot less rides and such (although, there were a number of game booths, so Ansel assumed this was more suited for having gaming fun). '_I wonder, was that Tour Guide supposed to be a prize? Hmm, I would go back and ask, but that'd just be losing face…'_

Dodging some of the members of the surprisingly large crowd, Ansel continued his trek through Breezegale, not really knowing where he was going. He had no idea where Ao was, so he couldn't complain… Yet.

Still, there seemed to be a calm and soothing aura that seeped through the air, almost trying to envelop Ansel and melt away the anger that he building inside of him earlier. '_Quite the mysterious place, and not just because the fact that you wouldn't expect this kind of place in an amusement park…'_

Eventually, Ansel found himself sitting down on a bench beneath the shade, even though the pain he had experienced over an hour ago was still lingering, it was almost disappearing with the breeze that swept over him. Honestly, it was a calming location and Ansel could feel himself slowly doze off…

"HEY! WAKE UP!"

Ansel's eyes shot wide open when he heard someone shout out towards him and almost made him fall off of the bench. However, at the last second he was able to grab a hold of the bench before he slipped off of it. "What in the…"

"That's better!"

This time, the shouting actually made Ansel let go of the bench and he fell face first into the grassy ground, which still stung him. "Urk!"

"… Now that's just worse," the voice sighed loudly. "Get to your feet… Now!"

Slowly Ansel pushed himself off of the ground and stood up to leer at the owner of the voice, "What in the world is your…"

However, before Ansel could continue his onslaught of words, someone grabbed his collar and surprised him, and all he could see was a pair of deep golden colored eyes that were narrowed down right into his gaze. For a moment, Ansel was stunned, not only because the eyes were an odd color but also because they were gazing directly into his – Which meant that whoever owned the eyes was within a few inches of his face.

Almost immediately, Ansel was pushed slightly backwards to see who was trying to practically trying to strangle him. From where he stood, Ansel was leering at a young woman who was around his age with a slim, tanned figure that was dressed in a black and dark blue vest that showed off her bare arms and a pair of black cargo shorts that hugged her thin waist. But, aside from her golden eyes, the most defining feature was her long black hair that hung on her shoulders and even had a bit of a purple colored sheen to it.

The girl threw her hand up towards Ansel's face again, "So, are you just gonna stand there like a slack jawed moron or are you gonna say something coherent?"

That was enough to get Ansel knocked out of his stupor, '_What in the… Do I only attract freaks and weirdoes here?!'_

"Is that a no?" the girl spat back with her hands on her hips, revealing that there was a duel disk strapped to her left arm. "Yeesh, and I took the time to get out of that stuffy costume and run after you – And in this weather, that's really taxing! Show some respect!"

"Costume?" Ansel muttered under his breath. "What the heck are you talking about? And who in the world are you?!"

The girl crossed her arms and sighed loudly, "Alright, I'll give you that one – Not like you could see through a mascot's mask."

"… Mascot's mask…?" Ansel growled as he slapped his forehead as he did the math in his head. "What in the world are you…?"

"Maybe this will make you remember," the girl sighed as she reached into her cargo pants' pocket and turned around.

'_I should be running,'_ Ansel thought with a loud sigh. '_But… I'd be lying if I wasn't curious...'_

After a second, the girl turned around – Only this time she had a pair of purple fox ears on her head, a charming smile, a wink on her face and with her hands curved slightly to have an outline of a heart. "Ta-Da!"

Ansel just stood there, blinking a few times. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Ansel began to slowly inch away from the scene. However, before he could inch away, the girl's leg slammed into the bench behind Ansel and halted the orange haired collector, "Are you serious? You haven't really figured it out?"

"I'm not dumb," Ansel replied with his arms crossed. "I was just trying to get away from you again… Koko."

'Koko' smirk as she pulled her leg back, "Surprised to see that I was a girl?"

"A little bit," Ansel answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "I couldn't tell through that suit of yours and for some reason, I thought you were a guy…"

"Blame the narration," Koko commented as she removed the fox ears from the top of her head.

"What?" Ansel questioned.

"Nothing," Koko coughed before she pointed an accusatory finger at Ansel's face again. "But in any case – Are you going to run away from my offer to duel against me… Again?"

"I don't recall you ever challenging me before," Ansel retorted with his eyes narrowed down slightly. "All you did was make the idea of it – Otherwise, I wouldn't have any of my D-Points left, and it clearly says one!"

"Right, but wouldn't you prefer to get a second D-Point?" Koko questioned as she lifted her duel disk up to her arm. "I told you back when I was wearing my costume that I worked for the park – I'm an official eliminator for the park, and the boss did say that if you did beat an eliminator you would be given a prize for your victory."

"That wind-bag also said it would also be all or nothing against eliminators," Ansel retorted, still not fully believing that this silly girl was an actual eliminator.

"Well, at this point," Koko replied with her arms thrown behind her head. "Wouldn't that describe any duel you have here from now one? With one more loss, you'll be out of the tournament."

"Uh, yeah, that's a valid point," Ansel muttered under his breath.

"Besides, who wouldn't want to have a duel with a cute girl?" Koko asked as she pivoted her hips and swayed her body slightly. "Boys aren't the only ones who can be good at cards…"

"You're really not my type," Ansel replied with a slight blush on his cheeks as he looked away from Koko.

"Aw, don't try to hide it, I can see that blush on your face," Koko admitted with a sly smirk on her face. "Besides, I'll tell you a few little secrets that you'll want to know – Like, how about that pain you felt through that duel against that freaky fish guy?"

Ansel's eyes widened when he heard that, however, before he could get off a word, the exotic Koko lifted up her fingers to Ansel's lips. "I know what you're thinking – How could I know this stuff? Well, before you start ranting and raving, just know that I will keep my word if you win: You'll get some answers, you get a prize, and you might just get a little bit of a bonus…

"But, there's just one condition that I'll need you to do before we begin to duel…"

Even though his cheeks were flushed, Ansel blinked a few times in confusion.

**TTTTTTT**

"Damn it! Stupid little thing!"

Back in the shadowed room, Rookie was standing in front of the same large television screen that had nothing but static on it. In the corner of the room, the same petite figure from earlier sighed loudly and looked up from her book. "Rookie, what in the world are you doing now?"

"This darn television!" Rookie snarled loudly as he tossed the remote to the ground, shattering it. "It just decided to break itself when I decided to check on that loser! DAMN IT!"

"Dang it Rookie," the petite figure sighed loudly. "Will you quit breaking every piece of technology you get your hands on?! I swear, we've got a piece of the budget cordoned just so we can replace all the electronics that you break – And that's a big budget!"

"What can I say?" Rookie growled as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. "If crappy television didn't keep popping up, like seeing that Annoying Orange on the tube or some politician giving some crock that I should give a rat's ass about their campaign's promises, or… or… or…"

"That's a terrible excuse," the petite figure groaned loudly as she snapped her book shut. "If you don't like what's on TV, why not do something productive with that waste of time you call your life? Like how about you read a book? Or do your damn job around here?"

"Meh," Rookie brushed off with a wave of his hand. "I swear, you're just like Bishop – Always riding me."

"If she heard you say that," The petite figure sighed loudly as she walked out of the room. "You'd probably get your ass handed to you on a silver plate, you know how she is… She doesn't really care for men like you. You muscle bound, pea-brained loser."

"It's bad enough that you all call me rookie, I don't need that name sticking either!" Rookie barked loudly before he turned towards the scrambled screen. '_Still… What the hell is going 0on here? I thought this place's cameras were top-notch…'_

**TTTTTTT**

Back at Breezegale, Koko had led Ansel to what appeared to be just out of the shopping arcade, the two standing in a large field with trees surrounding them with the grass in between them that billowed in between the duelists as they shuffled their decks. Ansel was a little more nervous as he carefully mixed the cards in his hands. '_Just what does this little fox know about me? Why does she want to help me? And why the heck did she want me to add that one card to my deck?_

'_It's in my extra deck, but it doesn't even have any effects or anything like that!'_

"I hope you're ready, Mr. Reaves," Koko snickered as she slipped her deck into her duel disk, activating the device. "I don't like to hold back, especially against guys who are easy on the eyes."

"Good to know," Ansel replied as he lifted his duel disk up. "Just keep your word when this duel is over with! I want some answers and I want that prize that's so important… So get ready to hand them over!"

Koko snickered as she and Ansel activated their duel disks, and almost immediately, a graceful breeze billowed through the clearing they were at with several leafs dancing around the two of them as they drew their opening hands of five. "DUEL!"

"There was no need to yell, ya know," Ansel stated as he looked at the five cards in his hand. (ALP: 8000)

"Are you kidding?" Koko questioned as she ran a finger atop of her deck. "This kind of thing is why some duelists get into the game – For the yelling!" (KLP: 8000)

"That explains… WAY too much," Ansel sighed loudly with a slap to his forehead.

"Best not to think about it too much," Koko giggled as she brought a finger to her lips. "In any case, do you want to be the one to start this duel? Or are you going to be a gentleman about it?"

"I'll let you make that decision," Ansel stated as he lifted his duel disk up defensively.

"My, and here I thought chivalry was dead," Koko replied as she drew from the top of her deck.

'_Alright, now, what could a cute fox mascot character play?'_ Ansel thought as he watched Koko look over the cards in her hand. '_I have no idea what the Koko mascot's character is and… Wait, is Koko her name? Or the name of the mascot? Crap! Why am I thinking about this now?! _

'_I need to focus on the duel!'_

"… Alright, I've decided on my first move!" Koko announced as she pulled a card from her six card hand. "I'll set a monster in defense mode! And for good measure, I'll set a card face down! And that'll be my turn!"

The two face down cards materialized in front of Koko, which made Ansel tilt his head slightly. "Defending? Standard move I guess… At least Ao was slightly entertaining with his annoyingness – He was on par with that citrus fruit on the web."

"Wish he was still around ya?" Koko questioned as she placed a hand on her hip.

"HELL NO!" Ansel snapped with his eyes widening.

Koko couldn't help but snicker at Ansel's reaction to the suggestion, "Oooh, did I hit a nerve or something? Better be careful there, Mr. Reaves, if you don't watch out, you might just become shipping fodder…"

"… Shipping fodder?" Ansel questioned as he drew the top card from his deck. "Do you think this is some sort of anime or fictional story? Get real! This is the real world!"

Koko merely chuckled. "True, I guess I have to give you that. But… Enough witty banter, shall we continue with our game?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ansel stated under his breath as he looked at his hand. '_Damn it, nothing good enough to really use to test her face down monster… And I get the feeling I'm gonna walk into some sort of joke or whatever…'_

"I… Set a monster face down!" Ansel announced as he slapped a card face down on his field. "And I'll set one card face down! Turn end!"

"Ooh, being a bit of a copycat, aren't ya?" Koko questioned with a lick of her lips. "Are you really that afraid of the foxy girl?"

Ansel didn't respond other than lowering his head and crossing his arms.

"Hmm, I'll take that as a yes then," Koko replied as she playfully drew her next card. "Well then, I think it's time I introduce you to the monsters of whom you'll be facing off against in this duel of tournament survival.

"And I'll start by summoning this magical creature!"

Koko slapped the card onto her duel disk and several bright sparkles began to flutter around the field until they crashed into the ground in front of Koko, creating an even larger explosion of sparkles that flew into the air! From the base of the sparkles, a small cute woman appeared in burst of sparkles, her fancy purple dress billowed slightly along with the white ribbons on it and her long violet hair followed suit. The woman spun around as a large witch hat popped atop of her head and a long fork-like staff appeared in her hands.

The cute witch stopped spinning around and winked at Ansel, creating a few holographic hearts around her (1400/1200). "Madolche Majoleine!"

Ansel blinked a few times at the cute monster on Koko's field. "Uh, ya know, with all the hype you were giving me, I was expecting something a little more… Intimidating."

"You should know better than anyone that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover," Koko scolded as Majoleine turned her nose up towards Ansel. "Besides, the cuter the character, the stronger they are!"

"… Once again, this isn't an anime," Ansel groaned loudly.

"Whatever, keep telling yourself that," Koko stated as a card popped out of her deck and into her hand. "But while you do, I can activate Majoleine's ability – When she's successfully normal summoned, I can add any Madolche monster from my deck to my hand.

"So, I'll go with Madolche Mille-feuille! You'll find out what this little cutie can do later, but for right now, I'll play another card from my hand – This one is called Ballad of the Pure Grave!"

That's when something odd happened, a calming, yet eerie song wisped through the air, being played by a single violin. The card itself materialized in front of Koko, this green bordered card displaying a blue haired man playing a violin in a graveyard. The card glowed brightly before a large musical score flew around both duelists, sparkling a few times before several notes danced on the bars. "Now this card is a bit of an oddball and it requires a certain condition that must be met in order to access its powers. And that's to make sure that I don't have any monsters in my graveyard!

"And as long as I don't have any in my graveyard, I can increase the attack and defense of all monsters on my field by six hundred points!"

Majoleine blushed and smiled cheerfully as a musical score popped on her hat, empowering her (1400/1200 + 600/600). "Now that she's got a bit of a power boost, let's see what you've got face down! Majoleine! Attack his face down monster! Mado-Magica!"

The cute little witch spun around before she lifted her staff up into the air and fired off a powerful burst of purple magic that crashed into the face down monster on Ansel's field. However, Ansel only smirked as he watched the magical attack bounce away, "Sorry, but it's not going to be that easy. And this little guy proves it!"

From the magical smoke, a large hard hat covered Ansel's monster. The large hard hat popped up to reveal a small cute little mole with a pick-axe in its hand, a pink flower on its nose, and with a large smirk on its cartoonish face (1000/1200). "Mine Mole, and once per turn, he can't be destroyed by battle!"

"Not too shabby," Koko chuckled as she looked at the other cards in her hand. "So, with that, I'll end my turn. I got nothing else to try."

'_True, but I haven't really heard of these Madolche cards before,'_ Ansel thought to himself as he drew the top card from his deck. '_And there's that weird spell card she's got out… I have no clue what the heck I'm dealing with…_

'_But… I can definitely use these to test the waters!'_

"My turn will start off simple!" Ansel announced as he spun a card around in his hand. "I summon Forest Swordsman Berry!"

The ground to the left of the Mine Mole opened up and allowed a small cartoonish porcupine dressed in a green tunic to leap out onto the field. The porcupine revealed that in its paws were a pair of rapiers that it crossed a few times (1100/300). "And guess what? He's a Tuner! So I'll tune my level three Berry to my level three Mine Mole!"

The porcupine stabbed its rapiers into the ground before it popped into three green rings of light that flew around the Mine Mole who had jumped into the air. Almost immediately, the mole transformed into three stars that erupted into a powerful blue tower of light. After a second the tower of light shattered like glass and in place of the two monsters was something vastly different than the two cute monsters that Ansel summoned…

Three loud howls echoed through the air, and before Ansel stood a large bipedal Cerberus-like monster with wild blue fur sticking out from the jagged silver armor that gleamed in the light. The large blue furred beast barred its fangs at Majoleine, making the cute monster shiver back (2400/1500). "Synchro summon! Sirius the Blue Dog Star! Of course, he's a beast-warrior, so I can't use Mine Mole's ability to draw another card, but I'm good with that."

"Oh my, that's a nasty little puppy you've got there," Koko cooed as she brought her hands up to her mouth. "Looks like someone didn't walk him enough as a little guy."

"I don't have a clever comeback to say to that," Ansel replied as he snapped his fingers before he lifted a card from his hand. "But I do have this to say! I play the spell card Totem of the Wild Soul!"

From the sky above, multiple wood carvings of different animals fell into the ground behind Sirius, each section resembling one of the heads of the large beastly warrior that was in front of it. Sirius snarled approvingly at the large totem pole, as a powerful blue aura graced the field. "We'll get to what this does soon, but when I activate it, I need to select a monster on the field… Naturally, I'll go with Sirius.

"And now, I'll go on the attack!"

Sirius snarled loudly before it leapt across the field towards Majoleine, scaring the small witch (2000/1800 – 800/800) and making her fall backwards. The three heads roared loudly and sent the young witch flying past Koko. "Hmm…" (KLP: 6800)

"Uh, aren't you going to question why your monster lost attack points?" Ansel questioned as Sirius leapt back to his field.

"Nah, I can hazard that it's your spell card," Koko stated as she held up one of her cards up, slipped it in the graveyard, then pulled it right back out of the slot. "It probably lowers my monster's attack and defense by either a set amount or by some other factor. This effect can only probably be used by the monster you selected."

"Well, you're not too far off," Ansel muttered. "By the way, what are you doing with that card? You're supposed to put your monster into the graveyard…"

"Nope," Koko stated as she slipped Majoleine's card atop of her deck and allowed the duel disk to shuffle the cards. "You see, there's something you need to learn about the Madolche cards – And that's when they would be destroyed and sent to the graveyard, they return to the deck right afterwards!"

"So wait, I'm stuck with dealing with them again and again?" Ansel questioned with a large bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.

"And I should point out that my Ballad of the Pure Grave will still be in effect," Koko explained with a charming smile on her face. "So, any other moves you'd like to play?"

Ansel looked at the three remaining cards in his hand and immediately slipped one of the cards into his duel disk. "One card set. Turn end!"

As the card appeared on the field in front of Ansel, Koko gingerly slipped off the top card from her deck and into her hand, "Hmm… I didn't think I'd draw this card so soon…"

"Huh?" Ansel questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, you don't need to worry right now," Koko stated as she snapped her fingers. "In any case, I'm going to play my face down monster, reveal yourself – A second Madolche Majoleine!"

The face down monster in front of Koko popped in a cloud of colorful smoke, and revealed to be the same purple colored, cute witch who smiled cutely at Ansel (1400/1200 + 600/600). "And remember, when she's normal or flipped summon, I can take another Madolche monster from my deck to my hand…

"So, I think I'll got with some royalty here and go with Madolche Puddingcess!"

"… What is with these names?" Ansel questioned with his head tilted slightly. "Is there a point?"

"These cuties," Koko stated as she turned her selected card around to reveal it to Ansel. "Are named after their roles and various French desserts and wines. Why you may ask? Cause its cute!"

"… That's not a legitimate reason," Ansel grumbled under his breath.

"So says you," Koko replied as she slapped another card on her duel disk. "I'll show you the power of cuteness! I summon Madolche Mille-feuille!"

A loud meow echoed through the air as a pop of pink smoke billowed through the air in front of Koko. Almost immediately the smoke dissipated to reveal a sleepy, small, fluffy pink kitten with a purple vest and a feathered cap atop of its head in front of the fox-eared girl. The kitten yawned loudly before it curled up into a small ball (500/300 + 600/600). "And when this cutie is successfully normal summoned, I can summon another Madolche monster from my hand… So, let's bring out the star of this show!

"Madolche Puddingcess!"

Like with the other Madolche monsters that Koko summoned, another pop of colorful smoke exploded in front of Koko. However, several small coughs echoed through the air, and staggering through the smoke was a beautiful blond girl dressed in a beautiful white and chocolate colored dress that has her blonde hair billowing on her shoulders. The princess was coughing slightly as she wave away the smoke (1000/1000 + 600/600).

Majoleine bowed to the princess while the Mille-feuille curled up around the Puddingcess' feet. Even Sirius turned slightly, and Ansel was pretty sure that the beast-warrior was blushing slightly. "… O-kay… And she warranted to be special summoned?"

"You better believe it," Koko replied with a smirk. "You see, she's one of the best cards I got in this deck – And one of the reasons is because of her ability! If I don't have any monsters in my graveyard, she gains eight hundred attack and defense!"

Almost as if she was pumped up, the Puddingcess lifted her arms up and pretended to flex her muscles (1600/1600 + 800/800). "And guess what? She and all of my other cuties are about to get even stronger! I play the field spell card Madolche Chateau!"

Unlike Ansel's and Ao's field spells which crashed the field, when Koko slipped her card into her duel disk's field slot, nothing as dramatic happened. However, a few seconds later, several small, cartoonish workers rushed out onto the field and began to work at breakneck speed around the two duelists, creating a large amount of cartoonish smoke that billowed around the field. With a loud whistle the smoke and workers disappeared and in their place was a large mansion that seemed to be made up of sweets and gingerbread. Currently, both Ansel and Koko, along with their monsters, were standing in a courtyard that had several statues of various duel monsters – And they seemed to be made out of rock candy.

Ansel sighed loudly as he rolled his eyes. "What in the world? What kind of field spell is like this?"

"A completely dangerous one for you," Koko replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "If I recall your strategy usually revolves around multiple field spells… Right? Well, then you might like this field's ability – First, I can't use its first ability, so I'll keep that a secret for now. But then its second ability that you'll want to know about, all Madolche monsters gain five hundred attack and defense!"

Indeed, all three of Koko's Madolche monsters seemed to be a bit more cheerful in the colorful mansion (2400/2400 +500/500) (1100/900 + 500/500) (2000/1800 + 500/500). "So, still think the power of cuteness is nothing special?"

"Uh…" Ansel muttered with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.

"It matters not," Koko chuckled as she threw her hand forward. "Cause I'm going on the attack! Puddingcess! You're going on the attack!"

For a moment, the Puddingcess turned to Koko and placed her hands on her hips as if she was disapproving of her duelist's decision. Koko on the other hand sighed loudly, "You heard me, now get over there and attack that over grown puppy!"

Puddingcess grumbled under her breath before she began to run across the field, spinning her arms around like a little kid. Sirius turned back to Ansel and rolled its red eyes at its duelist, "Yeah, yeah, I got this! I activate my trap card, Mirror Force!"

A powerful barrier made entirely out of glass erected around the three headed beast-warrior, making the monster snicker greatly. "This may not destroy your monsters, since I remember that your monsters share that return effect, but it'll definitely make you…"

"I activate my own trap card!" Koko announced as her face down card flipped up. "The counter trap card Madolche Tea Break!"

The glass barrier around Sirius faded away from sight and the card popped out from Ansel's duel disk, "What in the world?!"

"My counter trap can only be activated when I have no monsters in my graveyard," Koko explained as she held up her card. "And it negates your spell or trap card and immediately return the card to your hand. Plus, if I have Puddingcess out on the field… I can blast away another card you've got! So, I'll make your monster disappear!"

Sirius' eyes widened before he popped into a large cloud of blue smoke. Needless to say, Ansel's eyes widened in surprise, "Uh…"

"So guess what?" Koko giggled as she snapped her fingers. "That means that Puddingcess can now attack you directly! So, show him what you can do!"

Ansel blinked a few times before the young princess appeared before him and slammed her fists into his stomach. However, he didn't even seem to flinch at the attack. (ALP: 7500)

"Huh?" Koko questioned with her head tilted slightly. "I think you might have a malfunction in your duel disk, you should've taken twenty-nine hundred points of damage, not…"

"You're not the only one with a trick or two," Ansel explained as he held up a familiar white bordered card. "Sirius has a bit of a curse to him – When he's destroyed, one monster on the field loses twenty-four hundred attack points as long as its face up on the field."

Puddingcess puffed out her cheeks and immediately kicked Ansel in the shin, making the collector clutched his knee in pain. "HEY! She just attacked me again!"

"Oh don't complain," Koko sighed loudly as Puddingcess shuffled back to her field. "You didn't take any damage from that… But you'll be taking damage from both Majoleine and Mille-feuille! Attack him directly!"

The small dressed up cat leapt up high into the air and dove right into Ansel's stomach and made him stagger backwards. "URK!" (ALP: 5900)

But the moment that Mille-feuille got out of the way, Majoleine spun her staff and unleashed a powerful burst of violet magical energy that crashed into Ansel's chest, knocking him over. "Damn it!" (ALP: 3400)

"Hey! Watch your language!" Koko scolded as she placed her hands on her hips. "Besides, you managed to save yourself some damage this turn. You would've been left with only a thousand points."

"The attacks still stung though," Ansel muttered under his breath.

"Yeesh, you're a little bit of crybaby," Koko muttered as she slipped a card from her hand into her duel disk. "I set one card face down, and end my turn!"

Ansel took a deep breath and crossed his arms.

"Uh, is something wrong?" Koko questioned.

"I was just wondering… What am I doing?" Ansel questioned as he tapped his foot on the ground a few times. "You promised me answers to any questions I had, but so far, you've just been taking cheap shots at me…"

'_Look who's talking,'_ Koko thought to herself. "Fine… We'll call a little time-out. But for right now, since I'm in a little bit of a hurry, you'll just have to settle for one question and one answer – Then we'll get right back to the duel, okay?"

"Fine," Ansel sighed with his eyes closed. '_Not something that I would like to know – Especially considering the fact that I have a ton of questions… I guess I'll go with a basic question then…'_

"What the hell is going on with me and this tournament – More specifically, why did I get hurt to the point of losing consciousness? I've dueled a few times and I've never felt pain like that before! And don't give me some crappy answer, I know that you have some clue as to what happened to me."

Koko shrugged her shoulders and crossed her arms, "Fine, I suppose I can answer that. Mr. Reaves – I hate to tell you this but you're stuck in the crossfires of something very devious. You see, this tournament has a dark secret behind it…"

"Jeez, can't there ever be a tournament where there is some evil plot behind it?" Ansel questioned loudly with a roll of his eyes. "I heard that there were a ton of evil plots in the WRGP, Battle City, and even in Duelist Kingdom? Seriously, this is starting to sound like a bad cop out of an anime…"

"Can I continue, or do you want to keep complaining?" Koko grumbled with a blood vessel appearing on the side of her head.

Ansel dug his hands into his pockets and grumbled under his breath. "Go ahead…"

"Good," Koko huffed. "Now, I don't know all the details of what's going on so you'll have to bear with me – Somehow, these duels make the monsters real to people here – Monster attacks, effect damage, and other sorts of effects are on people. But for some reason, some people are more affected by this than others…

"That would explain how Ao's attacks hit you harder than your attacks hit him…"

"So wait, are you saying that I could've died in that duel?!" Ansel yelped loudly as he took a step back.

Koko only shrugged her shoulders in reply.

"Hey! You mind answering me verbally?" Ansel snarled as he pumped his fist up into the air. "I may be a greedy man, but even I wouldn't sell my life for cash – why's my life in danger?! What is this…"

"That's enough," Koko interrupted as she threw her arm to the side. "Ansel Reaves, I said I would answer one question now, if you want more questions answered then draw your card and win this duel! If you do, you'll get your answers! I guarantee it!

"And don't worry about getting hurt in this duel, you just lost more than half of your life points and you're not even scratched."

'_She's got a point,'_ Ansel thought to himself as he closed his eyes. '_I guess this duel's alright… And if I get some answers, then it's fine by me!'_

"DRAW!"

Ansel pulled off the top card from his deck and looked at the cards in his hand, with a nod, Ansel pushed a button on his duel disk, "I'll start this turn by playing the trap card – Limit Reverse! So I'll bring back a familiar face… Come back Mine Mole!"

As Ansel's face down card flipped up, the ground in front of him opened immediately and the hard hat wearing mole appeared in front of Ansel (1000/1200). "And next… I'll summon Green Man!"

Ansel slapped the card onto his duel disk, making several leafs float in front of the duelist, the leafs then began to conglomerate until they shaped into a man. The leafs then floated away, revealing a sleek man dressed in a green tunic and cloak that covered up his body, but when the man threw his arms up, it was revealed that he had beastly, leaf-covered hands that both held onto an ancient bow (500/600). "And thanks to you having a field spell out, I can use his effect! I can special summon a level four or lower beast, beast-warrior or plant-type monster from my hand, and I choose Mogumole!"

Once again, Ansel slapped a card onto his duel disk and the ground opened up to reveal a small drill digging its way out of the ground. Holding onto the drill was a small goggled mole dressed in a red vest (800/800).

"… Do you like moles or something?" Koko asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Continuing on with my turn," Ansel stated as he reached for the deck slot at his belt and pulled out his extra deck. "My Green Man is a Tuner monster, and thanks to him I can now summon a level seven synchro monster and…"

Ansel fanned the fourteen cards in front of him and blinked a few times, '_Hold on a second… This card… What in the world?! It… It was blank before but now…'_

Taking a few moments to read the card, Ansel shook his head, '_I must be crazy for having this card in my deck… But then again, everything about this entire tournament is crazy, so insanity is the best thing I can do to fight it!'_

"I synch my level two Green Man to my level three Mine Mole and my level two Mogumole!"

The Green Man spun around with his cloak billowing slightly behind him, transforming the monster into two rings of green light that spun around the two moles, transforming them into five stars that floated up into the air… But then immediately crashed down into earth. For a few moments nothing happened – However, the ground immediately began to shake wildly as several roots erupted from the earth between the two duelists. "_Through the binds of history and legend, awake yourself from the depths from the earth… SYNCHRO SUMMON! The Faceless King!"_

The roots gnarled and twisted around each other until they shaped what looked to be a large lion with leafs making the mane and the roots forming the rest of the body. The creature's 'mouth' opened up and unleashed a powerful roar that rocked the entire Madolche Chateau and the three Madolche monsters (2400/2100). "Summon successful!"

For a moment, Ansel had to blink a few times at his declaration, '_W-What in the world? Why did I just declare my synchro summon?'_

"My, someone seems spirited," Koko chuckled. "And I see you added that card that Ao gave ya… The Faceless King was it? It kinda looks like Naturia Beast…"

'_Maybe I should've gone with him instead,'_ Ansel thought to himself as he placed his hand atop of his deck case that held his extra deck. But then the young collector pulled a card from the top of his deck, "Mine Mole's effect now activates, since I summoned a Beast-type Synchro monster, I can draw another card from my deck!"

Looking at the card he drew Ansel nodded before he threw his hand up into the air, "Now then, I'll go on the onslaught! It's a Battle Royal! Faceless King! Attack her Puddingcess!"

The large lion out of plants roared once more as vines erupted from its back and flew through the air. "And here's his effect, thanks to you having a field spell out, all other monsters on the field lose one hundred attack and defense times their levels! So your Princess is now a literal creampuff!"

All three of Koko's monsters shuddered slightly from the very presence of the mighty beast in front of them (500/2900 – 500/500) (2500/2300 – 400/400) (1600/1400 – 300/300). "And my attack continues! Smash that princess!"

The vines continued their onslaught towards the surprised princess, making her well up with tears, "Like you said Mr. Reaves, you're not the only one with an effect to use! Sure, I'll take damage and lose my princess, but she has a very powerful ability that I can use whenever she battles an opponent's monster – And that allows me to pop one card on your field!

"So, your king will go…"

The vines slammed into Puddingcess, and made her pop into a cloud of smoke that flew past Koko's body. (KLP: 4400)

However, the Faceless King merely snarled in joy.

"Huh?" Koko questioned.

"There's another effect that my king has," Ansel stated as he pumped his fist up a few times. "My monster's unaffected by monster effects!"

Koko's eyes widened as a card popped from her graveyard, "True, but while my field spell helps you, I can still use its third ability! Whenever a monster would be returned to the deck by a 'Madolche' monster's ability, I can add that monster back to my hand. And guess what, that means the monster's own ability! So my princess will be back in my hand!"

Ansel blinked a few times as Koko added the destroyed monster back to her hand. '_Well, that's just peachy… Well, I can still use this to my advantage.'_

"I set two cards face down!" Ansel announced as the cards materialized in front of her. "Turn end!"

"Hmm, looks like that duelist spirit has appeared," Koko chuckled as she pulled her next card from the top of her deck. "Good for you. I sacrifice my Mille-feuille to bring back a familiar face!"

The small cat popped into a cloud of pink smoke and the blonde princess reappeared on the field with a bright smile (1000/1000).

"Heh, true, but you forget something," Ansel stated as he snapped his fingers. "Since you've got a monster in your graveyard, your continuous spell card and Princess' effects won't work!"

Indeed, Majoleine sighed in disappointment (2100/1900 – 600/600).

"But that won't last long!" Koko announced as she pushed a button on her duel disk. "I play the trap card, Madolche Manner!"

Her trap card flipped up to reveal the Puddingcess looking bored at a dining table being instructed about several silverware on the table. "This card instantly returns one Madolche monster from my graveyard into my deck – So, Mille-feuille will be returning to my deck. So, not only will my Ballad be reactivated, my Princess's ability, but my trap also increases the attack of all my Madolche monsters by eight hundred points! So guess what? They're even stronger now!"

A powerful aura erupted around both of Koko's monsters, making the two Madolche girls (1000/1000 + 800/800 + 800/800 + 600/600) (1500/1300 + 600/600 + 800/800). It was then that Koko slipped another card from her hand into her duel disk. "And don't think I forgot about your Mirror Force – I play Mystical Space Typhoon! So say goodbye to the card on the left!"

As Koko lifted up the card up in her fingers, a powerful surge of wind crashed into the face down card on Ansel's left. The card lifted up to reveal the Mirror Force trap card that was originally returned to his hand, but this time the trap was shattered like glass. "And now that we've got that headache out of the way… Puddingcess! Are you ready to get revenge against that meanie?"

Puddingcess nodded feverishly as she pumped her arms up a few times, Koko smirked as she threw her hand up into the air, "Then go ahead and attack!"

The young princess ran across the field, her arms spinning around wildly once more, "And don't forget Mr. Reaves! When she battles one of your monsters, one card on your field goes boom! Of course your monster's safe from the effect, but not the attack! So your back row card will…"

"Activate now!" Ansel announced as his face down lifted up. "Negate Attack!"

A powerful vortex erupted around the Faceless King, and knocked the Puddingcess backwards, making her sniffle slightly.

"Yeesh, not much of a ladies man, are you?" Koko questioned with a sly smirk on her face.

"And you're much of a sore loser, are you?" Ansel retorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Touché, Mr. Reaves," Koko giggled with a smile. "Looks like you've got a bit of a sense of humor under that stiff shield you have put up."

"Yeah, yeah," Ansel muttered as he slipped the cards into his duel disk's graveyard slot. "Are you going to play anything else this turn?"

"Nah, I'm good," Koko stated with a shrug. "So, come on Mr. Reaves, if you've got something you wanna try, I suggest that you do it now."

"I will," Ansel replied as he drew the top card from his deck. As he brought the card up to his face, Ansel smirked slightly. '_I was dependent on her field spell for my King's effect, but now… I don't have to hold back this card…'_

"I play the spell card Heavy…"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Ansel nearly dropped the card when he heard that beeping sound, and looked to see that Koko was reaching into her pockets, a frantic look on her face. "Oh man, oh man, oh man! Nonononono! Is my break almost up!?"

"Uh, is everything okay?" Ansel questioned as Koko pushed a button on her duel disk, making the holograms disappear.

"No! Everything's not okay!" Koko yelped as she ran across the field and held up a pair of cards towards Ansel. "My lunch break's almost done with, and I can't afford to be fired from my job! So look, I'll surrender, so consider this your win…"

Koko took Ansel's gloved hand and slid one of the cards over it, making the duelist gauntlet beep a few times. "With this, you win a second duelist point, so you'll be safe for a little while. I'd like to give you the answers that you want, but I really don't have time to deal with that, so here, take this card and head on over to Joliant around midnight."

"Midnight?!" Ansel questioned as the fox ear-wearing girl shoved the other card into his hand. Ansel blinked a few times and looked at the card, it was a duel monsters – one known as Fox Fire.

"Look I don't have a lot of time," Koko growled as she slowly began to back away from Ansel. "Just take that card to a place called Baguji's Fortune Telling Paradise and present that card to the weird old guy in there, and you'll get all the answers that you'll want – But make sure you don't let anyone else in the location see it. Trust me, you'll get badgered if you do."

"Now wait just a…" Ansel started before he realized that Koko just turned around and dashed off. "… Wow, she can run real fast… Damn it…"

With his duel disk off, Ansel sighed and rolled his eyes, "If this was a work of fiction, this duel's ending seems lazy…"

TBC

**TTTTTTTT**

**Card Stats**

**Mogumole / Earth / LV. 2 / ATK: 800 / DEF: 800 / Beast/Effect:** When this card on the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon this card in face-up Defense Position. Each player can only activate the effect of 'Mogumole' once per Duel.**  
Description:** A cute little goggled mole with a large drill in its hands.  
_This card appears in Abyss Rising._

**Sirius the Blue Dog Star / Dark / LV. 6 / ATK: 2400 / DEF: 1500 / Beast-Warrior/Synchro/Effect:** [1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters] When this card is destroyed and sent to the field to the Graveyard: You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; that target loses 2400 ATK.**  
Description:** A large, bipedal Cerberus with blue fur and gunmetal, spiked armor.  
_This card is a promo card that will hopefully appear in America soon._

**Forest Swordsman Berry / Earth / LV. 3 / ATK: 1100 / DEF: 300 / Beast/Tuner:** When this card is special summoned, inflict 300 damage to your opponent.**  
Description:** A cartoonish porcupine dressed in a green jumpsuit with a pair of rapiers in its paws.  
_These cards were used by Luna in the Manga of Yugioh 5D's._

**Madolche Majoleine / Earth / LV. 4 / ATK: 1400 / DEF: 1200 / Spellcaster/Effect:** When this card is destroyed by your opponent and sent to the Graveyard: Shuffle it into your Deck. When this card is Normal or Flip Summoned: You can add 1 'Madolche' monster from your deck to your hand.**  
Description:** A small, cute witch with violet hair, a fancy purple dress with white ribbons, a large baggy matching witch hat and a large staff that was designed to look like a fork with a cute and fluffy design on the end of it.

**Madolche Mille-feuille / Earth / LV. 3 / ATK: 500 / DEF: 300 / Beast/Effect:** When this card is destroyed by your opponent and sent to the graveyard: Shuffle it into your deck. When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 "Madolche" monster from your hand.**  
Description:** a sleepy, small, fluffy pink kitten with a purple vest and a feathered cap atop of its head.

**Madolche Puddingcess / Earth / LV. 5 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 1000 / Fairy/Effect:** When this card is destroyed by your opponent and sent to the Graveyard: Shuffle it into the Deck. If there are no monsters in your Graveyard, this card gains 800 ATK and DEF. When this card battles an opponent's monster: You can target 1 card your opponent controls: destroy it.**  
Description:** A beautiful blond girl dressed in a beautiful white and chocolate colored dress that has her blonde hair billowing on her shoulders. The princess's cute face is adorned with a beautiful smile.

**Madolche Manner / Normal Trap / Effect:** Shuffle 1 'Madolche' monster from your graveyard into your Deck; all face-up "Madolche" monsters on the field gain 800 ATK and DEF. Then you can shuffle 1 monster from your graveyard into the deck.**  
Image:** The Puddingcess looking bored at a dining table that has countless silverware on it

**Madolche Tea Break / Counter Trap / Effect:** If you have no monsters in your Graveyard when your opponent activates a Spell or Trap Card: Negate the activation of that card and return it to the hand. Then, if you control a face-up "Madolche Puddingcess", you can destroy 1 card your opponent controls.**  
Image:** The Madolche Majoleine appearing at the windows of a mansion while Butlerusk serves tea and sweets to Puddingcess.

**Madolche Chateau / Field Spell / Effect:** When you activate this card: Shuffle all 'Madolche' monsters from your graveyard into the deck. While this card is face-up on the field, face-up 'Madolche' monsters on the field gain 500 ATK and DEF. If a monster in your Graveyard would be shuffled into the deck by the effect of a 'Madolche' monster, you can add it to the hand instead.**  
Image:** A large mansion made out of various sweets with several Madolche monsters in front of it.  
_The preceding cards will appear in Return of the Duelist._

**Ballad of the Pure Grave / Continuous Spell / Effect: **If you have no monster cards in your graveyard, increase the ATK and DEF of all monsters on your side of the field by 600 points. By sending this card to the graveyard, you can return up to 2 monsters in either player's graveyard to their decks.**  
Image: **An eerie blue haired man, dressed in a dark blue suit and a white scarf with a violin in his hands with a musical score floating around him, all the while with the man standing in a graveyard.

**Totem of the Wild Soul / Continuous Spell / Effect:** When this card is activated, select one face up monster on the field. If the selected monster is removed from the field, destroy this card. This card gains the following effects depending on the type of the selected monster card:  
**Beast:** When a Beast-Type monster attacks, your opponent cannot activate Spell or Trap cards until the Damage Step.  
**Beast-Warrior:** When a Beast-Warrior-Type monster Attacks an opponent's monster, lower the ATK and DEF of the opposing monster by 200 points x its Level/Rank during the Damage Step only.  
**Winged-Beast:** When a Winged-Beast-Type monster attacks an opponent's monster, you may select and destroy one spell or trap card on the field.**  
Image:** Several beasts surrounding a glowing totem pole

**Green Man / Earth / LV. 2 / ATK: 500 / DEF: 600 / Beast-Warrior/Tuner:** If there is a face up field spell on the field when this card is normal summoned, you can special summon one Level 4 or lower Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Plant Type monster from your hand.**  
Description:** a sleek man dressed in a green tunic and cloak that covered up his body, but when the man threw his arms up, it was revealed that he had beastly, leaf-covered hands that both held onto an ancient bow

**The Faceless King / Earth / LV. 7 / ATK: 2400 / DEF: 2100 / Beast/Synchro/Effect:** ['Green Man' + 1 or more non-tuner monsters] This card is unaffected by monster effects. While there is a face up field spell card on the field, lower the ATK and DEF of all other face up monsters on the field by 100 points x their level/rank. **  
Description:** A large lion like creature made out entire of plants, with its large mane made out of leafs. The creature's eyes are a bright yellow

**TTTTTT**

_**Okay…**_

_**What the hell is going on with this story?**_

_**In the first chapter, the protagonist lost, and in this chapter he won because his opponent gave up. **_

_**This is rather pathetic…**_

_**-sigh-**_

_**At the very least we'll get a real duel.**_

_**Hopefully Ansel won't lose or make a mistake like that…**_

_**Ansel: HEY!**_

_**Oh shut up.**_

_**Next time**_

_**Chapter 3**_

_**It's MAGIC!**_

… _**And I'll ask again, what the hell is with that title?!**_


	4. Chapter 3: It's MAGIC!

_**A slight of hand, perfect timing, and a creative imagination… Oh and nerves of steel. These are what needed in order to be successful as an entertainer and even as a duelist. Slight of hand comes into play when you're shuffling and handling your cards, if you don't have a good technique for either, then you're going to mishandle your equipment and have problems (such as clumping up your cards or wrecking your cards).**_

_**Perfect timing. With all the special summoning and drawing that goes on in today's game, you need to be able to determine when to activate the right kind of card. Should you Bottomless Trap Hole that Dark Armed Dragon? Or should you save it for a bigger threat?**_

_**A creative imagination. This is what makes up the decks' combinations – Whatever cards a duelist puts into their deck have to be able to work with each other – The chances for new combinations are completely endless with the number of cards that exist in this world. And with them, it can make duels all the more interesting.**_

_**And finally, nerves of steel. You can't doubt yourself, you can't let your opponent intimidate you and it doesn't hurt to believe in your luck.**_

**TTTTTTTT**

_**Chapter 3**_

_**It's MAGIC!**_

**TTTTTT**

It had been around twenty minutes since Ansel's duel against Koko (seems like its been at least two weeks though...), and the young collector was still wandering around Breezegale, still looking at the Foxfire duel monster card in his hand. Why in the world would this card be given to him?

It wasn't even a rare card – Heck, he had several copies in his trunk at home. While was a cute card (to the point that his sister begged him for any copy he had), it had a mediocre effect that wouldn't really fit into today's game mechanics – Or be practical in any case.

But, if he wanted answers to his questions, he had to get to that fortune teller's place in Joliant at night. And this card was the key to those answers, so it was the most important card that Ansel had on him (as much as he hated to admit it with all the other rare cards that were on his person).

'_This is stupid though,'_ Ansel thought as he pocketed the card into his jacket's inside pocket. '_If Koko had answers and was willing to help me, she should've just done that right off the bat and skipped the duel. Meh, is it a girl thing to be so complicated?'_

With a shrug of his shoulders, Ansel looked around at his current location – He was back on the main walks in Breezegale, with patrons walking around him to take in the shops and whatever forms of entertainment were going on. From looking at it, one would never be able to tell that this place was part of an amusement park; more like it was a small village you'd find that had a farmers' market in it. The only thing that really stood out was the large bell tower that was smack-dab in the middle of this portion of the amusement park. '_I remember seeing a few bell-towers when I was in the parking lot; I guess this is one of them. So, there are a few others, is there one for each area?'_

Ansel shook his head and reached into his pocket, pulling out a green colored phone and flipped it open. '_A little after noon, so, I think I'll hit up some lunch then head on over to Joliant. Once I do, I'll kill some time till 'midnight' and get my answers. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to catch in another duel or so I won't get kicked out of here._

'_So, where's the nearest food stand?'_

**TTTTTT**

Meanwhile back in the mysterious underbelly of Cress Paradise, everything was quiet in the darkened hallways, only the breeze of the air conditioning echoed through the hallowed halls…

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

Only to be shattered by that deep booming voice.

Standing in front of a large computer laptop was none other than Rookie himself, his teeth barred like a wolf's, his eyes narrowed and his hands gripped on the screen (almost to the point he was threatening to crack the screen with his thumbs). "That little sonva-…"

"What are you complaining about now, Rookie?"

Without even turning, Rookie knew who was talking to him – It was the same petite young woman who had berated him during Ansel's duel against Koko. "That little prick cheated!"

"… Rookie, we've told you not to make those wagers in those online poker games," the petite young woman sighed with a shake of her head. "That's real cash you're betting with, not virtual…"

"I know that, damn it!" Rookie spat back turning away from the screen. "I learned that the hard way! But that's not what I'm cursing about, I'm cursing about that little forest freak! He's got two duelist points again!"

"… and that's what got you hot under the collar?" the petite woman questioned with a roll of her eyes. "How is that a big deal?"

"Cause he lost one earlier!" Rookie barked back. "I know for a fact that green thumbed loser lost his first duel and had one of his duelist points taken from him! But after an hour or so, he gets the one he lost right back! The little bastard must've hacked his duelist gauntlet!

"That's a blatant…"

"Wow, that's a five dollar word for you," the petite woman sighed loudly as she crossed her arms. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm technically an official in this tourney," Rookie chuckled as he licked his lips. "I'm gonna kick his ass out of this tournament! And I might just kick his ass at the same time…"

"Rookie, that's enough," the petite woman held her hand up and narrowed her eyes down at Rookie. "You're not going to do that."

"And who's gonna stop me?" Rookie cackled as he stepped towards the petite woman. "You? I doubt that! I'm practically twice your size!"

"That may be," the petite woman admitted with a small smile on her lips. "But, there are three reasons why you can't kick him out: One, there's no evidence that he himself changed the amount of duel points, for all we know he could've defeated an eliminator who gave him an extra point. Two, you still haven't been given permission to confront him yet, and we both know what'll happen if you disobey orders.

"And three, it's not even your area, and unless the boss gives you permission, you're only allowed to roam around Volk. Like how I'm usually supposed to be in Joliant, how Bi-Bi is bound to Breezegale, and… like how 'he' is in Mira-Mira most of the time."

Rookie gritted his teeth as he slammed his foot into the computer screen, shattering it into millions of shards, "FINE! IF THAT'S THE CASE, THEN I'M STICKING TO MY GUNS AND WE'LL SEE WHAT'LL HAPPEN!"

And with that, Rookie stormed out of the room, smashing his fist into the door and knocking it out of its hinges. The petite young woman snickered to herself with her hand to her lips, '_I guess it's a good thing that I didn't tell him that the boss gave me permission to challenge one of our targets… _

'_Good thing I won't be the first person to challenge him – After all, I want to be able to see what I'm fully up against.'_

The petite young woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a yellow cell phone that she flipped open, '_Now, who's in my little black book of who can have some fun with our little hoodlum?'_

…

'_Ooh, she's a perfect candidate – Who better than to face a man of green than a lady in white?'_

**TTTTTT**

Ansel was expecting the outdoor food court to be busy, and maybe have some entertainment around to help lull away the boredom while people enjoyed their barbecued food. And indeed, there was a simple stage where a small no-name garage band was playing some music that Ansel didn't particularly care for.

It was some death metal punk band of some sort (it wasn't something that Ansel usually listened to), but all of the members of the gang were dressed in black leather of sorts (not something you'd expect to see in an amusement park). The lead singer/guitarist certainly fit the role for the death metal band lead – a black leather vest, messy black hair that covered the left side of her face, ripped gray and black clothing on her slim, pale figure, and silver piercings on her ears and nose.

But Ansel was more interested in the cheesy pretzel that he was munching on. '_It may not be the lunch of kings, but it's enough to help stave off hunger.'_

Oddly enough, a number of duelists were around the area, some of them trading, other doing table top duels, and others being like Ansel – Enjoying lunch. Still, he did see a few cards being exchanged between other duelists, cards that would fit well into his collection. Unfortunately, he left his trade-able cards back at his hotel room, so there was nothing for him to really do except watch the trades taking place in front of him.

But, it still burned him to watch, especially when such rare cards were being flaunted in front of him.

As he finished his pretzel, Ansel couldn't help but notice that the band on the stage was slowly leaving. It was not like he really cared for the music, but at least it was something to kill some time and add some background noise – Even if it was something that would make Ansel's ears bleed after listening to it for half an hour.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

Ansel nearly spat out the soda he was drinking when the sudden shout echoed through the air. Almost immediately his and everyone else's attention was drawn to the stage, where a large cloud of blue and red smoke popped up. For a moment the smoke just went up high into the air until it billowed away to reveal a young man spinning around on the stage with a top hat in between his white gloved fingers. "Are you ready for mystery!?"

The young man himself was dressed in a pair of black dress pants, a fancy red vest with card suits sewed into the vest pocket, and a white shirt that covered his slim and tall build. The young man had chestnut brown hair that was combed back and pulled out of his rather mature looking face, with a little bit of stubble on his chin. "I am the Great Milo Fair Play! Magician Extraordinaire!

"Allow me to mystify and astound you!"

With a spin of his hat, the Magician Extraordinaire tossed the head piece into the air. As the hat flew above him, the young man clapped his hands together, and as he pulled them away, a rather sleek magician's wand appeared in between his hands. And with a smirk, Milo Fair Play lifted the wand up and his top hat land atop of it, spinning gracefully on it. "Now, as you have just witnessed, this hat is completely empty – But when in my hands…"

A simple flick of the wrist was all it took to have the hat fly into Milo's free hand. With a few simple taps of his magic wand, Milo turned the hat over and several feathers fluttered out from the hat. For a few seconds Milo just stood there with a dumb smile on his face. Slowly, Milo lifted his top hat to his face, only to get a number of doves flying right into his face, "Garagah!"

Most of the crowd that was watching was now laughing at Milo falling backwards with his doves suddenly attacking him. Ansel couldn't help but just be the odd man out and stare at the failure of a magician, '_He had a good entrance, but he kinda bit the bullet with that – He'll need a miracle to make a comeback.'_

With a grunt, Milo jumped back to his feet, dusted his vest off and leapt off the stage – Oddly enough, he was heading right for the table where Ansel was seated. This didn't go unnoticed by the orange haired teen, but Ansel closed his eyes, '_Why do I attract the crazies?!_

"Good day, good sir!" Milo laughed as he sat down on the table right in front of Ansel. "Enjoying the tournament so far?"

"I guess you could say that," Ansel muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"You guess?" Milo questioned with a slightly flat look on his face. "Well, whatever, that doesn't matter; I've found a volunteer for my next trick everyone! What's your name?"

"I'm not gonna give my name," Ansel replied as he lifted up his drink and sipped on it.

Milo gulped slightly as he leaned a little closer to Ansel, "Come on pal, I'm dying out here! Give me a hand! PLEASE!"

"Fine," Ansel whispered back as he placed his drink on the table. "I'm Ansel."

"Give a round of sound to Ansel everyone!" Milo announced as he jumped atop of the table, which actually elicited a small amount of applause. "He will be aiding me in one of the most dangerous tricks known to all mankind! Sawing a person in half!"

"N-Now wait a second here," Ansel stuttered as he began to slowly back away.

However, Milo snapped his hand up into the air and immediately threw his hand towards the ground, making a large cloud of smoke pop around both Ansel and Milo. With a yelp, the cloud of colored smoke disappeared and the two young men had disappeared from the table.

"So, with my new assistant ready and willing…"

Everyone's attentions were drawn back to the stage where Milo stood up tall while somehow, Ansel had been stuffed into a rather large black box with only his head and feet sticking out of it. Milo then lifted up a rather simple saw up into the air, "The amazing trick of sawing a person in half!"

"H-Hey!" Ansel yelped as he struggled to get free. "This isn't funny!"

"Relax, I've done this before," Milo stated as he placed the saw on the box. "Just remain calm and don't wiggle, I don't wanna nick ya."

"N-Now wait a second!" Ansel shouted as Milo began to saw through the box. "I can feel where my feet are sticking out of the box, you don't want to…"

~_Ten minutes later…~_

"I'M SO SORRY!" Milo yelped loudly as he slammed his head into the ground at Ansel's feet. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT!"

Ansel just narrowed his eyes and slapped his forehead. "Just be glad that you only cut my shirt."

Indeed, there was only a rip just over Ansel's stomach, with the rip in his shirt rather long and showing a little bit of Ansel's sleek stomach. "How you managed to stop just before nicking my stomach is simply a miracle."

"Wow, you don't pull back any punches," Milo mumbled under his breath. "Then again, I guess I deserve it."

After it was found out that Milo had almost practically cut a person in half - in front of children – Most of the people in the small dining area had wandered off. The only other people around besides Ansel and Milo, was the band that was playing earlier, packing up their instruments.

"Look, I'm one for watching entertainment," Ansel sighed loudly as he ran his fingers through his hair. "But don't you think you should be sure to be able to do the trick before you try to cut someone in half?"

"Sometimes you don't get a chance to practice," Milo sighed loudly as he slowly stood up. "In any case, I'm really sorry… Ansel was it? I really didn't mean to do that to ya – I just really needed a good crowd pleaser."

"Well, couldn't you have just done those appearing and disappearing tricks you used?" Ansel questioned, and almost immediately realized that Milo had a look of utter joy on his face. "Uh oh…"

"Really!? You thought they were good!?" Milo squealed as he leaned in closer to Ansel. "Thanks! It's one of my specialties! I can make things appear and disappear like no-one's business! But, you can't just wow people with tricks like that… You need to have a different amount of tricks to make it in the magic world!"

"Two words," Ansel growled as he shuffled away from Milo. "Personal. Space."

"S-Sorry!" Milo yelped as he bowed his head slightly. "I… I get a little carried away sometimes."

"Meh, don't worry about it," Ansel sighed as he waved his hand. "So, do you work with the park or are you freelance? Or…"

"Actually, I'm a duelist in the tournament," Milo chuckled sheepishly as he lifted up his hat up from the ground, dusted it off and placed it atop of his messy head of hair. "I got the invite and I thought that it would be my time to shine as an entertainer! I figured that if I could duel well and get some magical tricks in between my duels, I'd be noticed by one of the viewers."

"You know as a magician, people will think you're cheating," Ansel pointed out. "Ya know, with card tricks and such."

"I've got a little trick to fix that," Milo answered back with a smile. "So, are you in the tournament?"

Ansel placed a hand on his choker and lifted up his duel gauntlet, "Uh, yeah, I think I am. And before you ask…"

"Don't worry, I'm not challenging you," Milo replied with his hands up defensively before he placed his own duelist gauntlet on his hand. "I've kinda already owe someone else a duel and…"

"Alright Great Milo Fair Play," a snide, yet somewhat familiar voice sounded out from behind the two young men. "I think it's time you pay up."

Both Ansel and Milo turned around to see the very same lead singer/guitarist from the band that was playing a little bit ago. The girl had her guitar strapped to her back, and a duel disk wrapped on her arm. "I believe you've got a bit of a trade with me."

"O-Oh! Tsukanna!" Milo chuckled sheepishly. "I… I didn't forget, I was j-just waiting for you and your band to get done packing up..."

"My band mates are dragging the stuff to the hotel room for the day," Tsukanna replied as she placed her hands on her hips. "So, it's just you and me – And I guess this orange haired loser that you tried to cut in two. Hilarious trick by the way."

"HEY!" Ansel snapped.

"It wasn't on purpose mind you," Milo muttered as he tapped his fingers together a few times. "I just need a little more practice."

"Doesn't matter," Tsukanna sighed with a shake of her head. "You remember our little deal right? If I gave you ten minutes of our stage time to do your tricks, you have to duel against me in the tournament officially."

"… That's it?" Ansel questioned with a tilt of his head. "Ten minutes of the stage just to duel him?"

"Not exactly loser," Tsukanna replied, not bothering to look at Ansel when she spoke. "You see, he wanted to get on the stage, and the original deal was for him to fork over his deck of cards for the ten minutes. Of course, he wasn't willing to part with a bunch of cardstock just like that – So, we've got a duel here…

"The stakes of the duel are more than just Duel Points, we're dueling for his deck."

"What?" Ansel questioned with a few blinks of his eyes before he turned towards Milo. "What in the world possessed you to do that?!"

"W-Well, I needed a stage," Milo chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You could've just done it on the sidewalks!" Ansel snarled as he slapped his forehead.

"No he couldn't," Tsukanna stated as she wagged a finger at Ansel. "You see loser, the people who run this place have a business to run – They can't just have anyone performing on their dime and expense. My band got here early and talked to the people in charge of this stuff, so we had clearance to perform here…

"But Mr. Magic didn't. And you need at least four hours of advance notice to get a gig going – So, I made the offer for him to get a few minutes of our stage time, all for a duel with his deck on the line. I'm not completely heartless mind you, that's why we're dueling."

Ansel didn't say a word as he turned towards Milo, when he did, he clearly spoke out: "You're an idiot."

"I know…" Milo moaned with tears in his eyes. But with a deep breath, Milo smiled brightly and activated his duel disk. "But that doesn't matter! I gave my word, and we're going to duel! That's the kind of guy I am!"

"How chivalrous," Tsukanna sighed with a shake of her head. "Too bad that sort of thing will get you knocked out in the future, it just so happens that it'll happen in the next half hour."

"We'll see about that," Milo stated as he removed his hat, tapped the rim a few times and produced a deck of duel monster cards. "Now, before we begin, it's time to shuffle."

Tsukanna stepped back a few feet and lifted up her duel disk, revealing a deck inside it that was already being shuffled by the automatic shuffler, "Hmm, I'm keeping an eye on you though, I wouldn't want you put the odds in your own favor – You may be a failure of a magician, but I'm sure you know a few card tricks."

"Which is why I'm not shuffling," Milo stated as he placed the deck of cards into Ansel's hands. "This guy is."

"Huh?" Both Ansel and Tsukanna questioned at the same time.

"I'm well aware that a Magician as a duelist could be considered cheating at any point," Milo explained as he placed his hat back atop of his head. "So, to fix that, I usually have an unbiased party shuffle my cards – This guy will do just fine."

"I suppose trying to hack the guy in two is enough for him not to shuffle in your favor," Tsukanna chuckled as she flicked of the top five cards from her deck.

"How about the fact that we just met?" Ansel questioned as he began to shuffle the cards. "If anything, you think that I would try to sabotage your deck."

"Nah, you wouldn't do anything like that," Milo stated as he held his hand out as Ansel placed the cards into his hand. "I can tell from talking with ya for a little bit, you've got that good duelist soul deep down in your heart."

"Man, what is with people saying that about me?" Ansel muttered under his breath as Milo slipped his deck into the duel disk.

"Enough of the witty banter," Tsukanna sighed loudly as Milo pulled off his opening hand. "Let's get this over with, I've got some time to chill before I have to head to Volk for my next gig tonight." (TLP: 8000)

"Best not to keep the lady waiting then," Milo chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "So, why don't you take the first turn then? I mean, if you're all that strong to make a wager like this, then, I'm guessing you're really strong." (MLP: 8000)

"Heck yeah I'm strong," Tsukanna chuckled as she pulled off another card from her deck, and immediately tossed the card into her hand as she slapped another card onto her duel disk. "But, since you're a little pathetic, Magic Man, I'll go easy on ya for the first turn. I'll set a monster in defense mode…"

The moment that the punk duelist slapped the card onto her duel disk, a single horizontal face down monster appeared in front of her. "And for good measure, I'll set two cards face down as well – And I think I'll call my turn over with."

The two cards materialized behind Tsukanna's face down monster. "Now, Magic Man, let's see you guess what my cards are."

"Sorry, not my specialty," Milo replied with a shrug before he drew his next card. "But, I will show you one of my tricks! I summon Card Trooper in attack mode!"

As Milo slapped the card onto his duel disk, a large amount of beeping echoed through the air – in front of Milo appeared a small, toy robot appeared on the field with a glass head and a pair of arm cannons (400/400). "And for my next trick, I'll make the top three cards of my deck disappear!"

Milo fanned off the top three cards from his deck, held them up to reveal Skill Successor, Antique Magician and Mecha Magic, and immediately slipped the cards into his duel disk graveyard slot. As he did, a number of sparks flew from Card Trooper's body (400/400 + 1500/0). "And for each card discarded, it gains five hundred attack points! So, let's see what I can do now! Card Trooper! Attack her face down monster!"

The small robot lifted is cannon arms and fired a barrage of multi-colored lasers that crashed into the face down monster on Tsukanna's field. The card flipped up and revealed a small gray treasure chest that looked to be alive (100/1000); however the small chest shattered into millions of pieces.

Yet, Tsukanna only smirked as she slipped the card into her graveyard and reached for her deck, "Thanks, the monster you just blasted Dark Mimic LV1, when flipped, I can draw another card from my deck."

Tsukanna quickly drew from her deck, giving her a fourth card in her hand. "So, now that we've got this all over with, are you done with your turn?"

"Well, let's set up for the next act of this show," Milo muttered under his breath as he slipped a pair of cards from his hand into his duel disk, making them appear behind his Card Trooper. "And I'll let my first performer cool off for right now."

The Card Trooper's body began to return to normal (400/400) the sparks settling down.

"And during the end phase," Tsukanna sighed with a snap of her fingers, which made one of her face down cards flip up and unleash a small twister. "Dust Tornado – So, I'll blow away the face down card on the left."

Milo lifted his arm up as the small twister slammed into his face down card, making it flip up and reveal Defense Draw. The trap card immediately shattered like glass and the shards flew past the young magician in training. "Oh, that would've been helpful to have I guess."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean it would've saved you," Tsukanna replied as she plucked another card from her deck. "And with your little toy right there without any support, it's just a big target!

"And luckily for me, I've got a real power house to take out that toy, but first, I'll play this card, Hand Destruction!"

Slipping the card into her duel disk, the spell card appeared in front of Tsukanna, showing a cartoonish samurai slicing two duel monster cards in half. "I hope I don't have to explain what this card does…"

"Well, for the sake of our small audience," Milo chuckled as he tapped the rim of his hat a few times. "You might as well."

Ansel looked around, and indeed a small crowd of people from the amusement park were watching the duel, although it was a small number of people actually…

"Fine," Tsukanna sighed loudly as she held up two of the four cards left in her hand. "Essentially both of us drop two cards from our hands, and then draw two more cards from our decks. Sound simple to you?"

"Sounded simple when I decided to include a copy in my deck," Milo snickered as he slipped the two cards from his hand into his graveyard.

"Don't get cocky," Tsukanna sneered as she pulled off two more cards from her deck. "Cause this is where the fun ends and the duel begins! I'll start by removing one of the monsters I just ditched from my graveyard! So, get lost Susa Soldier!"

'_Susa Soldier?'_ Ansel thought to himself as he watched Tsukanna slip the card into her jacket's pocket. '_So, she's running Spirit Monsters? Not something I'd expect from a person… dressed like her… If anything, I was expecting fiends!'_

"Now that we've got that out of the way," Tsukanna announced as she slapped a card onto her duel disk. "I can summon Yamato-no-Kami!"

The ground in front of Tsukanna began to crack until six insectoid legs smashed through the concrete revealing a large, gray skinned man with wild black hair and the insectoid legs attached to his back. The man cackled loudly as he pulled himself from the ground, his face completely demented (2200/1200).

"So, Mr. Magic, got any tricks to stop my onslaught?" Tsukanna chuckled as she waved her hand next to her head.

"Actually, yes!' Milo laughed as he slapped a card onto his duel disk. "Because it's time that I show off another lovely assistant of mine!"

The moment that Milo pulled his hand from the duel disk, a large cloud of blue smoke popped around Milo's body, and a loud mechanical roar blasted throughout the air. From the smoke a large cybernetic tyrannosaurus head erupted next to the young magician, and as the smoke cleared, more of the T-Rex's mechanical body appeared, with more steam erupting from its joints (2500/1200). "Cyber Dinosaur! Everyone please give a round of sound for my newest assistant!"

"W-What!?" Tsukanna questioned as she stepped back. "How in the world did you summon that during my turn!?"

"You don't know?" Ansel sighed as he crossed his arms. "Cyber Dinosaur's effect allows it to summon itself from Milo's hand whenever you special summon a monster from your hand."

"Er," Tsukanna muttered as she looked at her hand.

"He's got a point," Milo added with a rub of the back of his head. "So, you can hit my Card Trooper if ya like, but you know that when your turn ends, I'll be able to hit you with my assistant right here with all of its strength."

"Yeesh, where in the world did that come from?" Tsukanna muttered. "That's fine by me! Yamato! Crush the robot!"

With a demented smile, the multi-armed spirit flew across the field and slammed both of its hands into the small robot, crushing the machine into millions of shards that slashed through Milo's body. "URK!" (MLP: 6200)

"And since Yamato destroyed one of your monsters," Tsukanna announced with her hand held towards Milo. "One of your spells or trap cards gets popped! And since you've only got one – I'm gonna make that face down card of yours disappear!"

Milo blinked when Yamato slammed its fists into the set card, beating it into the ground, "Yikes! Oh well, I guess that wasn't going to help… But thanks to Card Trooper, I can draw another card."

"Eighteen hundred life points for a single card?" Tsukanna chuckled under her breath as she pushed a button on her duel disk. "In any case, during my second phase, I can activate my trap card – Shadow of the Yata-Garasu!"

Tsukanna's face down card flipped up, revealing a trap that had the Dark Scorpion – Meanae the Thorn walking through an ancient temple with several Yata-Garasu surrounding her, making the female Dark Scorpion shiver in fear. "We'll get to what this card can do later, for right now, I'll set a monster in defense mode…"

The set monster appeared in front of Tsukanna, making Yamato snicker slightly. "But for good measure, I'll set another card face down. And now I enter my end phase, which means that now my Spirit returns to my hand. This also activates my trap card as well."

The trap card glowed brightly as a single three legged crow appeared in front of the gothic singer (300/200). "You see, whenever a Spirit monster is returned to my hand, I can special summon a Yata-Garasu Token in defense mode. So, I'll be able to defend myself from anything you've got."

"Interesting," Ansel muttered under his breath, leering at the trap card. '_Thanks to that trap card, she can defend herself every turn when she returns a Spirit… And who knows what other tricks she's got up her sleeve…_

'_Wait… Why am I thinking this? This isn't my duel!'_

"It's quite a good move," Milo admitted as he slowly drew from the top of his deck. "Of course, I've got a few neat tricks of my own. For the first shot, I'll start by summoning Machina Gearframe!"

Milo slapped the card onto his duel disk and a sleek, orange armored machine appeared on the field, this one man shaped and looked like soldier with sparks flying from its body (1800/0). "And when this card is normal summoned, I can fetch another Machina monster from my deck, and this time I'll go for Machina Cannon!"

A single card popped from Milo's deck, but he quickly slipped the card into his graveyard, "Of course, now you see it, now you don't! But now you'll see this!"

A second cloud of smoke popped around Milo's body, this one was a bright green. The sound of gears grinding against each other filled the air as a large futuristic cannon popped from the smoke. Eventually, a large tank-like machine emerged from the smoke, with large arms and a three tank treads (2500/1600). The machine began to take aim with its cannon, "The classic Machina Fortress!"

"Heh, a rather cheap move," Tsukanna chuckled. "So, you run one of those Machina decks, eh?"

"I wouldn't assume," Milo chuckled as he waged a finger at Tsukanna. "After all, I'm a magician, and when you deal with magicians, you can never trust your first glance. But first, Fortress and Gearframe! Attack her two monsters! Gearframe takes the token and Fortress the face down monster!"

First, the orange armored robot leapt across the field and slammed its leg into the small crow, shattering it into millions of feathers. After the Gearframe leapt away from its attack, Fortress fired its mighty cannon, with a red beam that crashed into the face down monster, from the smoke that emerged from when the attack crashed, the face down monster was revealed to be a blue skinned man dressed in robes with six thin arms (1700/1200). Milo raised an eyebrow, "Hmm? Was that Asura Priest? You didn't have anything else to defend with?"

Tsukanna didn't say a word.

"Well, if that's what you wanted to go with," Milo stated as he snapped his fingers a few times, making the Cyber Dinosaur roar loudly. "My apologies in advance Miss Tsukanna, but I have to do this in order to keep my deck! Cyber Dinosaur! Attack her directly!"

The large, cybernetic dinosaur spun around and slammed its mighty tail into the ground at Tsukanna's feet, making her stagger backwards. "Urk!" (TLP: 5500)

"Next, I'll set a card face down," Milo announced as he slipped a card into his duel disk and then he lifted his hand up. "And I'll use Gearframe's effect to equip to my Fortress!"

The main body of the Fortress opened up, and the smaller Gearframe leapt inside, making the larger tank's body turn a bright orange. "Now, you'll have to take two shots to take down my Fortress!"

Tsukanna whistled to herself as she drew, "Oh, is that all Magic Man? Doesn't sound like a big deal to me."

"Hmm?" Milo mused.

"Watch, you're not the only one who can summon some big bads," Tsukanna announced while she twirled a card around in her fingers. "I play the spell card – Next World!"

As Tsukanna slipped the card into her duel disk, and a large ornate design appeared on the field, around both of the duelists. Milo stepped back with a blink, "Uh, what in the world is this?"

"This is a rule breaker card," Tsukanna replied as she held up one of the remaining three cards in her hand. "You see, Spirit monsters can't really special summon themselves – Save for Yamato of course, but this card can bend that rule. All I need to do is select a monster on your field that has the same level as a Spirit in my hand, and I can special summon that spirit ignoring its restriction.

"So thanks for summoning your Fortress, it makes things all the easier! So, your monster's a level seven, so I can summon Yamata Dragon!"

The design suddenly erupted in fire, making the crowd stagger back as seven large snake heads began to erupt from the ground, each of them snarling loudly with flames pouring from their mouths (2600/3100). "Now then, let's trash your scrap! Yamata Dragon! Attack his Cyber Dinosaur!"

The large seven headed dragon opened all seven of its mouths and unleashed a number of flames that flew through the air and crashed into the large mechanical dinosaur, burning the machine until it melted into the ground. (MLP: 6100)

"And like you, I can make cards instantly appear," Tsukanna announced, all the while she plucked four cards from the top of her deck. "When Yamata Dragon inflicts even a single point of damage against you, I can draw cards from my deck until I hold five cards – So, I've got a refreshing hand."

"Perhaps," Milo stated with a rub of his chin. "But, for only a hundred of damage – Was it really worth it?"

"It's always worth it," Tsukanna chuckled as she slipped a pair of cards into her duel disk. "Now watch, I'll end this turn with two more set cards, and now my big bad dragon returns to my hand!"

And just like that, the large seven headed dragon dematerialized from the field, however in its place, a small three legged crow appeared (300/200). "So, now I've got my token, and my turn's over with."

Milo was silent as he drew his next card and looked over his hand. Then with a snap of his fingers, the Fortress's body flew open and the Gearframe leapt from its larger Machina counterpart (1800/0). "Next, I'll sacrifice my Gearframe… To bring out an old classic!"

The orange armored robot popped into a cloud of dark purple smoke, and from the smoke, two bright red lights gleamed from the smoke. And emerging from the smoke was a tall, sleek android with curved green armor over black robes, its face covered with a gasmask with red, cybernetic eyes. The android seemed to snarl as he crossed his arms over his chest (2400/1500).

Almost immediately, Ansel's eyes gleamed brightly, "AAAAAAAH!"

"Huh?" Milo and Tsukanna questioned…

However, Milo jumped up as Ansel ran up to him and grabbed his duel disk, along with Milo's arm, "OOOH! Is that a Jinzo!? Do you know how rare these guys are!? And HOLY MOTHER OF… IT'S FROM THE ORIGINAL PACK! WHY ARE YOU PLAYING THIS!?"

"Uh, w-well," Milo muttered as he tried to get free from Ansel's surprising grip, but failing. "It's a really good card to have in machine decks… I mean, I just stopped her traps stone cold!"

Tsukanna clicked her tongue against her teeth, one of her face down cards was rendered useless and her Shadow of the Yata-Garasu was in the same position. Still, she couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Ansel trying to get a closer look at the Jinzo card on Milo's duel disk.

"But do you know how much its worth?!" Ansel was practically drooling at this point, reaching for the card. "Wait… How about a trade!? I know I've got something you'll love! You're a machine user, and I've got a ton of machines in my binder and…"

Milo quickly lifted up his other hand towards Ansel's face, and from Milo's sleeve, several white doves flew out, smacking Ansel in the face. The doves began to attack Ansel and force him to release Milo's duel disk and run around with the birds flying around. "ARGH!"

"Sorry Ansel!" Milo chuckled sheepishly with a slight bow. "But I've got a duel to duel, and my lovely doves… Thank you!"

The doves seemed nod to Milo before they flew away from Ansel.

"In any case," Milo muttered as he ran a finger on the brim of his top hat. "Let's cut to the chase shall we? Jinzo! Send that crow packing!"

Holding up its hands, the mechanized man created a dark orb of energy and immediately threw it into the Yata-Garasu token, shattering it into millions of feathers. "And of course, that means you're wide open for a second assault! Sorry about this, Tsukanna, but I must do what I must…"

"No need to do so!" Tsukanna announced as one of her face down cards flipped up and a large video game controller appeared in front of her. "Enemy Controller! Work your magic and switch that monster to defense mode!"

The end of the controller connected to the Machina Fortress, and made the monster's cannon lower slightly. "Sorry, but I only give one freebie per date… Or in this case, duel."

"Wow," Milo muttered with a blush on his face. "I'm flattered, but uh…"

"You're reading too much into it," Tsukanna snickered with a wink. "But regardless, your monster's nothing more than a fancy paperweight for this turn."

"Sad, but true," Milo replied with a shrug of his shoulder. "You okay there, Ansel?"

"I think I may need an Asian Bird Flu shot," Ansel sputtered with a few feathers popping from his mouth.

"Oh my doves are one hundred percent clean and healthy, you'll be fine," Milo assured with a simple wave of his hand. "But that's beside the point, I end my turn."

Tsukanna drew from her deck and smiled at the card, "Good, then I'll start off with this card – Card Destruction. I don't think I need to tell you what this card can do, of course."

"Dump our hands and draw some new cards," Milo stated as he folded his few cards in his hand and slipped them into his graveyard slot, while Tsukanna did the same.

Both duelists pulled cards from the top of their respective decks: Three for Milo and four for Tsukanna. Tsukanna smiled as she spun one of the four cards in her hand. "Now watch, since you're a fan of magic, I'll show you a few tricks of my own – I'll start by making both of your monsters disappear!

"With the magic of Dark Hole!"

"Uh, w-well," Milo stuttered as a large dark vortex appeared in between both of his machines, drawing both of them into the vortex and crushing them into nothingness. "That's a pretty good trick…"

"Just wait, I'm not done yet," Tsukanna announced as she pushed a button on her duel disk. "With your ugly-ass Jinzo gone, I can use my trap cards again! And here's one of them right now – Groundbreaking!"

The ground in front of Tsukanna opened up and a single card popped from the earth and into her hand, "And I dropped a very powerful Spirit when I played Card Destruction, and thanks to my trap card, I can pull that very power spirit monster…"

Tsukanna turned the card around and smirked, "So, meet my newest spirit, and one of my favorites to boot."

"Uh yeah, hate to point this out, but that monster is level eight," Milo stated with his worry starting to disappear. "And it'd probably take you a while to bust that monster out…"

Ansel rubbed his dove peck wounds curiously as he looked at the card, '_I'm not a walking Duel Monster encyclopedia, but I've never really seen that Spirit monster before… But who knows what that thing can do?_

'_Well, there's one person…'_

"You'd think that, but no," Tsukanna snickered with a lick of her lips. "You see, this monster has a very unique ability – and to use it, I have to look in my graveyard for a specific monster. That monster is Asura Priest, and for every one of them, this monster loses two stars off of its level. When we first started this duel, I dumped one Asura Pries, and you helped me by destroying another…

"So this level eight monster is now a level four! Meaning I can call him to the field without a single tribute!"

Tsukanna slapped the card onto her duel disk, and several flames raced around the field, surrounding the two duelists and cutting them off from the spectators. Even Ansel was having a hard time trying to see what was happening, but it wasn't that way for long…

From the flames, an incredibly large bronze skinned man pulled himself from the ground with three pairs of armor covered arms that had flames pouring from its joints. The man's scarred face was topped with blood flecked hair and his waist was covered with red, ripped robes. The spirit roared loudly to make the flames around the two duelists fly through the air (2700/2200). "Meet the Wrath of Asura! You see, originally, asura are supposed to be demons. But as everyone and their mother knows that Asura Priest is a light fairy type monster…

"An almost insult to the name Asura, so this monster gains the ability to summon itself easier for each mockery of its name in my graveyard. But that's not all it can do… But for right now, right now he's gonna show ya his wrath!"

"Uh, is he going to punch me?" Milo questioned, realizing that the Wrath of Asura was looming right in front of him…

And immediately, Asura gripped the young magician by the collar of his dress shirt and lifted him off of the ground. Then with a light toss, Milo was up in the air for Asura slammed his fists into Milo's body, several times, almost creating a mirage that the six armed demon had countless other arms, all of them violently crashing into the young magician's torso. (MLP: 3400)

Then with a loud smack, Milo slammed into the ground with his hat falling on his back. With a loud cough, Milo slowly got to his knees and wrapped his arms around his chest, "Urk… T-That wasn't pleasant…"

"Well, that's what you get," Tsukanna snickered as she slipped a card into her duel disk. "Now, I'll outfit my Wrath with the Mirror of Yata!"

A bright light floated in front of the Wrath of Asura, making the demonic spirit grab ahold of the light, transforming it into a large mirror that the spirit held in two of his six hands. "Now, thanks to this nice looking charm, my monster won't be returning to the hand at the end of my turn. So go ahead Mr. Magic, let's see you try to make my monster disappear this time."

With a few labored breaths, Milo pulled off the next card from his deck and looked over his hand of cards, '_Not much I can work with… My face down card can't really help out in this situation, but, I do have something I can use to defend myself with, especially if she summons another monster…'_

"Okay, Miss Tsukanna," Milo stated as he slapped a card atop of his duel disk, making a face down monster appear in front of him. "And I'll set a card face down as well!"

"I guess that's all you can do," Tsukanna chuckled as she slipped off the top card from her deck, however, she quickly spun the card she just drew around. "Oh, and wouldn't you know it? The card I just drew another Mystical Space Typhoon! So, let's blow that face down card you just set away!"

Milo's eyes widened as a powerful typhoon swept the field, "I don't think so! I chain my face down card right now! Scapegoat!"

The set card immediately flipped up and four, multicolored sheep appeared next to Milo's set monster all of them baaing loudly (0/0 x4). "So, you've got no target! And I've got a full field of monsters!"

"… So?" Tsukanna snickered as she played with her ear piercing. "You think five monsters are enough to save you from my Wrath? As if!

"I summon Susa Soldier!"

As she slapped the card onto her duel disk, a bolt of lightning crashed from the sky and turned into a tall and daunting warrior covered with electrical energy, complete with armor and a long sword (2000/1600). "Now then… Let's start with that face down card shall we? Asura! Smash it!"

With a rather playful smirk, the multi armed spirit dashed across the field, and slammed its fists into the face down monster, revealing another Card Trooper (400/400), at least before it was destroyed by the force of Wrath's fists. Milo smiled as he plucked another card from the top of his deck, "Thanks, now I get another card thanks to my second Card Trooper!"

"You think I'm done?" Tsukanna chuckled as she and Wrath wagged a finger at magician in training. "You seem to have forgotten something – Like how my Wrath has another ability to use… Show him Asura!"

With a wicked smile, the Wrath spun around and slammed a fist into one of the Sheep Tokens, shattering the monster, and making both Ansel and Milo look on wide eyed. "W-What?!"

"You see, while he hates the Asura Priest," Tsukanna explained as the Wrath continued its rampage, destroying another Sheep Token in the process. "He is a little jealous of its ability to attack all of your monsters – so, he took the ability and improved upon it. You see, if he destroys one of your monsters, he can instantly attack again… Oh and look, he just did it again with your Scapegoat token!"

Milo looked on in horror as he watched the last two of his Sheep Tokens getting smashed into the ground, but looked up when he noticed that the Wrath of Asura was looming over him, cracking two of its six knuckles. "And guess what? Unlike the priest, my Wrath can attack after it clears your field!"

'_N-No! With this… I… I'll… LOSE!'_ Milo thought as he lifted his duel disk up to his face.

It was just in time too, cause the moment the duel disk was raised, Asura slammed two of its six fists right into the duel disk and sent Milo skidding backwards. "URK!"

'_Great, and even with its handicap,'_ Ansel thought to himself as he bit his lower lip. '_That Susa Soldier can end this! Not good!'_

"Susa Soldier! Have some fun!" Tsukanna commanded as the electrified warrior dashed across the field.

Milo's eyes widened as the soldier brought its sword down on the young rookie magician, with his entire body cackling with electricity and making him yell loudly in pain. When the electricity stopped, Milo's body had smoke rising up from it and he fell to his knees…

And then fell face first into the concrete… With his top hat bouncing a few feet away from him…

Ansel's eyes widened when he saw that, "W-What the?! Milo!"

It was like when he faced off against Ao… Someone was getting hurt in a duel!?

"Man, what a drama queen," Tsukanna sighed with a shrug of her shoulders. "He's acting like he's lost this thing already."

"What?" Ansel questioned.

"Look at his duel disk," Tsukanna ordered with a smile. "You can even help him up if you like, I don't care, and I've already got this in the bag."

Ansel walked over to Milo, a little worried if more doves were going to fly out and hit him, but when he got close to Milo, the collector looked at his duel disk and blinked in confusion. "What the?"

(MLP: 650)

"You didn't think Wrath would be that broken of a card, would ya?" Tsukanna chuckled with her playing with her ear piercing. "You see, if he attacks a player after he attacks a monster, any damage is done in half. The same with my Susa Soldier, so yeah – He's being a total drama queen…"

"And you couldn't mention this downside earlier?" Ansel questioned.

"Hey, not my fault he didn't look up my card when it was placed on my duel disk," Tsukanna replied with a shrug. "A lot of duelists tend to forget that they can do that ya know."

Ansel had to admit, he forgot to do that too in his duels with Ao and Koko…

"Ugh, is that all?"

Ansel jumped up as Milo sat up, rubbing his slightly bruised nose, "Wow! I haven't had a beating like that since the first time I performed at a kid's birthday party and I accidentally lit the family's house on fire…"

'_What kind of trick were you trying to perform?'_ Ansel thought to himself as Milo grabbed his hat and placed it atop of his groomed hair.

"But, very nice move nonetheless," Milo replied with a smirk on his face. "Even the pain was… Realistic. Don't know how you pulled that off, but nonetheless, I enjoyed the theatrics! Ansel, you played a nice role as well!

"But now, it's time for the big finale!"

"Big words," Tsukanna stated as she slipped a card into her duel disk, making the card appear behind her two spirits. "I'll set one card face down and end my turn. Thanks to my Mirror, Wrath gets to stays, but Susa doesn't."

The Susa Soldier fizzled out of existence, but in its place a small crow appeared, cawing loudly (300/200). "But, don't forget, my trap is still out on the field, so I still get my token. My turn's over with…"

'_And soon will this duel, thanks to my Dimensional Prison, if he manages to summon something big next turn, I'll be able to crush it. But even if he destroys my trap, the Mirror of Yata will take the hit for him… At least in battle.'_

Milo smiled as he drew his next card and tucked the card into his hand as he raised his hand up to his hat. "Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls of all ages! Prepare for the show that never ends, the show that you will all love!"

With a flick of his finger, Milo sent his hat tumbling behind him, and as soon as it landed on the ground behind him, an explosion of confetti popped behind him and into the air. Multicolored scraps of paper floated through the air as Milo spun around one card in his hand, "And to start off the grand finale! I'll play the spell card, Monster Reborn!"

'_Is he bringing back Jinzo?'_ Ansel thought to himself as a bright light popped over Milo.

"So, give a round of sound to the monster who will showcase the trick," Milo stated as he slapped a card onto his duel disk. "The magnificent Antique Magician!"

The light popped into several doves and a large metallic form crashed into the ground before Milo. As the form stood up, the light revealed a toy-like man dressed in blue armor that resembled that of a stage magician's attire – Complete with a blue top hat, a magic wand, and a long flowing cape. However, the machine's body had patches of rust here and there, but the machine didn't seem to mind as he adjusted his top hat (1300/1300).

"And he won't be alone for long!" Milo stated as he reached into his graveyard slot. "For when he's special summoned, my Antique Magician can automatically special summon another machine from my graveyard, so long as it is level four or lower! So, give it up for Red Gadget!"

Taking off his top hat, the Antique Magician reached into the hat and struggled to pull something out from it. After a few seconds of struggling, the magician pulled out a rather large red machine that was constructed out of a large gear that was mounted on its back (1300/1500). "And when this guy is summoned, I can add Green Gadget to my hand… But the fun's not over yet ladies and gentlemen!"

'_He's not done?!'_ Ansel and Tsukanna thought as Milo spun around another card from his hand.

"From my hand, I activate the effect of another monster," Milo announced as he slapped a card onto his duel disk, allowing a large cloud of pink smoke to pop out in front of him. "So, come on out my Mecha Magic Assistant!"

From the smoke stepped out a rather unique looking machine, designed to look like a cybernetic girl dressed in a pink magician girl's leotard and vest with a pink top hat that had a pair of metallic bunny ears from the top of the hat. The mechanized woman spun around before she blew kisses to the crowd (1000/1000). Milo smiled as he crossed his arms, "You see, my lovely assistant here can be special summoned to the field when there are two monsters with the same level on the field.

"But now it's time for the real magic to begin! I overlay all three of my monsters!"

All three of Milo's monsters flew up into the air, transforming into three streams of earthly light that crashed into the ground, which popped into a large cloud of confetti and green smoke. "So, once more, give it up for the Gear Magician!"

The smoke and confetti flew away and in its place was another large machine, this one also designed to resemble that of a magician, only this one was floating in the mid-air. The monster wore a black top hat that had a large gear for its brim, its face was masked, yet seemed to have a metallic sharp beard. The machine had a long steel cape with two gears at its shoulders and its hands were replaced with what appeared to be red orbs that gleamed with energy (1500/1500). "This is my ace! Impressive, no?"

"No is right," Tsukanna chuckled with a shake of her head. "That thing is just pathetic."

"We'll see about that," Milo stated as three lights began to float around the Gear Magician's body (1500/1500 + 800/800). "First off, let me tell you that Mecha Magic Assistant has a unique ability with Machine Xyz monsters – As long as she's an overlay unit, that monster gains eight hundred attack and defense points!

"Then there's my Gear Magician's ability! You see, as long as he's on the field, all monsters on the field are Machine-Type monsters!"

Tsukanna blinked a few times as both of her monsters became covered in metal. "So what? Unless you've got an Acid Rain card in your deck, this isn't going to do a damn thing to my monsters."

"But then that's when Gear Magician's greatest trick comes into play!" Milo announced as he pulled an overlay unit from underneath the Gear Magician. "Once per turn, by removing one Overlay Unit from this card, I can destroy an equal number of cards on the field for each machine-type monster on the field!

"And since that means you've got two more machines, I can destroy three cards on the field!"

As Milo slipped the card into his duel disk's graveyard slot, the Gear Magician lifted up both of its arms, creating three rings of red light that immediately shot several streams of red light that crashed into the Wrath of Asura, the Yata-Garasu Token and the set card that was on Tsukanna's field. However, instead of being destroyed, the two monsters and set card popped into several streams of confetti that floated through the air.

And Tsukanna's left eye merely twitched in annoyance.

"And now, for the piece de resistance!" Milo announced as he slapped a card onto his duel disk. "I call forth Green Gadget!"

In a burst of light, a machine similar to the Red Gadget, save for being green, appeared before Milo (1400/600). "And now for the moment everyone's been waiting for… The battle phase!"

"Go right ahead," Tsukanna sighed as she looked at her hand. "Feel free to attack me all you want, I'll still survive."

'_And thanks to Monster Reincarnation, I'll get Wrath right back in my hand and call him to the field!'_

"Now you see your life points," Milo chuckled as he pushed a button on his duel disk, making the set card he had flip up. "Now you won't! I activate my spell card – Limiter Removal!"

Tsukanna's eyes widened as both of Milo's monsters sparked with electricity (2300/2300 + 2300/0) (1400/600 + 1400/0). "N-Now wait a second…"

"Grand FINALE!" Milo shouted as the Green Gadget dashed across the field while the two red orbs glowed brightly.

Tsukanna tried to lift her duel disk up before the Green Gadget's attack struck, but the machine slammed its fist into her gut and made her skid backwards. (TLP: 2700)

And as she tried to recover, two red bursts of energy crashed into her, courtesy of the Gear Magician, flying her off of her feet and onto the ground. With a loud smack, Tsukanna landed on the ground with her eyes spinning. (TTLP: 0)

"And so, the curtain falls," Milo stated as he spun around and pulled his hat off of the ground. The holograms began to disappear as Milo dusted off his top hat and began to walk away. "It was a marvelous duel, Miss Tsukanna, I hope you make it to the finals so we can have another wonderful show!"

Ansel was a little dumbstruck at the duel he just watched, but when Milo stood in front of him, he shook his head, "How in the world…?"

"Hey, my magic act may need some work," Milo stated with a shrug of his shoulders. "But I never said I was a bad duelist. I'd have to be a good one."

"Why?" Ansel questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Milo merely smirked as he threw an arm around Ansel's shoulders and began to move him away from the dueling area, "Ah don't worry about that, now then, you were talking about a trade?"

"Actually, I have a question or two to ask you," Ansel replied as he slipped from Milo's arm. "Mind if I borrow a few minutes of your time?"

"Huh?" Milo questioned.

Unbeknownst to the two duelists, a familiar petite figure had just arrived halfway through the duel and was watching as Tsukanna got back to her feet, and began to cuss under her breath.

The petite figure rubbed her chin. "Hmm… I think I may have a good idea…"

**TTTTTTT**

A few minutes later, back at the food court…

"Wow, so you got hurt during a duel too?" Milo asked as he polished off his top hat. "And you lost your first duel here?"

Ansel growled slightly, "Yeah… No biggie…"

"Yeah, sure," Milo chuckled as he placed his top hat back atop of his head. "So… Any clue why I felt pain during that duel?"

"Hell if I know," Ansel replied as he reached into his jacket. "But there is one person who would know – Back in Joliant, I was told to head to the fortune teller's tent around midnight to get some answers. All I gotta do is present this card…"

"Huh, sound like a real showstopper," Milo stated with a rub of his chin. "Hmm… Mind if I tag along?"

"Huh?" Ansel questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well, why did you ask about why I was in pain during that duel?" Milo retorted with a smile. "Cause I wanna know just like you do! Sides, you're a fun guy, and I think I still owe ya for sawing your shirt. So, how about a little a company while you kill ten hours or so?"

"… I'd prefer that Jinzo…" Ansel muttered under his breath. "But whatever… Maybe you can pull off some card tricks, at least I won't be bored."

"That's the spirit!' Milo laughed as he stood up from the table. "Just let me do one thing, and I'll be ready to go!"

'_I didn't agree to him following me, but whatever,'_ Ansel thought.

Milo brought one of his hands to his lips and blew in between the fingers, making a loud high-pitched whistling sound. Then with his right arm held up, the three doves that had attacked Ansel earlier flew to his arm and landed on it. "Girls! Good to see you again!"

"Ugh, those things," Ansel muttered as he rubbed his face. "You sure they're clean?"

"Hey, chill out Ansel," Milo sighed with a shake of his head. "Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are fully clean, and I made sure that they went to the vet before I got here."

Ansel just looked at Milo flatly.

"What?" Milo asked.

"… Those names…" Ansel muttered.

"Don't judge me," Milo replied with a blush on his face.

_TBC_

**TTTTTTT**

**Card Stats**

**Next World / Normal Spell / Effect:** Select 1 face-up monster your opponent controls. Special Summon 1 Spirit monster from your hand with a Level equal to the selected monster's, ignoring Summoning conditions.**  
Image:** An angelic being behind a large golden orb with an infant in it.

**Groundbreaking / Normal Trap / Effect:** Add 1 Spirit monster from your graveyard to your hand.**  
Image:** A small shrine in a weird zone.  
_**The previous two cards were used by Noah in the original Anime**_

**Antique Magician / Earth / LV. 4 / ATK: 1300 / DEF: 1300 / Machine/Effect:** When this card is special summoned, you can special summon one Level Four or lower Machine-Type monster from your graveyard. **  
Description:** a toy-like man dressed in blue armor that resembled that of a stage magician's attire – Complete with a blue top hat, a magic wand, and a long flowing cape. However, the machine's body had patches of rust here and there

**Mecha Magic Assistant / Earth / LV. 4 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 1000 / Machine/Effect:** This card cannot be used for a Synchro Summon. When there are two monsters with the same Level on the field, you may special summon this card from your hand. If this card is used for a Machine-Type Xyz summon, increase the summoned Xyz monster's ATK and DEF by 800 points as long as this card is an overlay unit. **  
Description:** a cybernetic girl dressed in a pink magician girl's leotard and vest with a pink top hat that had a pair of metallic bunny ears from the top of the hat

**Gear Magician / Earth / Rank 4 / ATK: 1500 / DEF: 1500 / Machine/Xyz/Effect:** [3 Level 4 Machine-Type Monsters] As long as this card is face up on the field, all monsters on the field are considered Machine-Type monsters. Once per turn, by detaching one Overlay Unit from this card, you must destroy a number of cards on the field equal to the number of Machine-type monsters on the field (your opponent cannot chain spell or trap cards to this card's effect).**  
Description:** a large machine, this one also designed to resemble that of a magician, only this one was floating in the mid-air. The monster wore a black top hat that had a large gear for its brim, its face was masked, yet seemed to have a metallic sharp beard. The machine had a long steel cape with two gears at its shoulders and its hands were replaced with what appeared to be red orbs

**Wrath of Asura / Dark / LV. 8 / ATK: 2700 / DEF: 2200 / Fiend/Spirit:** This card cannot be special summoned. During the End Phase of the turn this card is normal summoned or flipped face-up: remove one Spirit Monster from your graveyard or return this card to the hand. While this card is in your hand, lower the level of this card by 2 for each 'Asura Priest' in your graveyard. When this card successfully destroys an opponent's monster, this card can attack once more in a row (if this card attacks your opponent directly after destroying a monster, damage done by this card is halved).**  
Description:** an incredibly large bronze skinned man pulled himself from the ground with three pairs of armor covered arms that had flames pouring from its joints. The man's scarred face was topped with blood flecked hair and his waist was covered with red, ripped robes

**Shadow of the Yata-Garasu / Continuous Trap / Effect:** Each time a Spirit monster(s) is removed from the field, special summon one 'Yata-Garasu Token' (Dark/LV. 1/ ATK: 300 / DEF: 200 / Winged-Beast) to your side of the field in defense mode. A monster summoned with this effect cannot be tributed.**  
Image:** the Dark Scorpion – Meane the Thorn walking through an ancient temple with several Yata-Garasu surrounding her, making the female Dark Scorpion shiver in fear

**TTTTTT**

_**Wow, a duelist who's good actually won one!**_

_**YAY!**_

_**This story's got potential!**_

_**Good job Lux-Nero! Looks like my job's safe for now!**_

_**But now's not the time for celebrating, we've got another duel lined up just for you all!**_

_**Next time we… Wait, what?**_

…

_**What do you mean I'm on thin ice!?**_

_**Just because I insulted Lux-Nero once and he makes a federal case out of it!**_

_**I swear that guy is…**_

_***ZRZTT!***_

_**GARGH!**_

_**Next time**_

_**Chapter 4**_

_**Power of Zero**_

_**I… I need medical transportation!**_


	5. Chapter 4: Power of Zero

_**I've seen a number of different duelists inhabit the streets of New York City, each of them with their own tastes in cards and strategies – And frankly I applaud seeing that. Sure, I'm more of a collector and I only really care to have the cards in my hand and not to have them damaged on the duel disk or by the oils in people's hands (sure there are sleeves, but even then, that doesn't prevent long lasting damage).**_

_**I guess what I'm saying is that I don't really like cookie cutter decks – Seriously, using strategies that other people have come up with that you 'borrowed' for your own deck doesn't really make you a duelist. It just makes you a copycat. **_

_**I play a forest deck – Or a field spell deck, something that's not normally seen today since people consider field spells to be a waste of space – But then again, I've seen Ao and Koko use field spells in both of their duels…**_

_**Milo here plays a Machine Deck, and while there are some staple cards, he mostly uses them as side actors in his little shows that he calls duels – I think that he prefers to have those magical machine cards he plays. At the very least, he's giving a twist on a tired strategy.**_

_**Then take Ao, he's got that ocean strategy of his… Bleh, I don't think I have to say any more about it. **_

_**The point of this is that I like seeing different surprises in duels and while I am a collector, I can't stand the fact that rare cards are always being reprinted – and to see people being original, it makes me feel good – Mostly to see that they're not damaging some perfectly good and rare cards!**_

_**Ahem, I mean, its g-good for the duelist… Gives them identity, and makes the duels a lot more interesting…**_

_**I think… The only duels I've been in haven't exactly ended in victory…**_

**TTTTTT**

**Chapter 4**

**Power of Zero**

**TTTTT**

"So, we're heading for Baguji's Fortune Telling Paradise?"

"Yes…"

"But we can't meet who we have to meet until midnight, right?"

"Yes…"

"And you do know that its barely even two o'clock in the afternoon, right?"

"Yes…"

"So, why are we going to Joliant ten or so hours before…"

"MILO!"

The young, rookie magician staggered back at Ansel's sudden outburst, all the while, the orange haired collector was glaring daggers right at Milo. "Look, I realize that we've got less than half a day to see the person, but you were the one who wanted to tag along, I didn't twist your arm to come."

"That is true…" Milo muttered under his breath as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "But, I didn't think it'd be that long, ya know?"

Ansel sighed loudly as he slapped his head. The two were almost out of Breezegale and back at the bridge that connected it to Joliant (and where Ansel had his first duel of the tournament, something he'd rather forget…). '_Why did I agree to let this guy follow me? Oh yeah, he felt pain during his duel as well…'_

"Look, Milo," the collector duelist stated. "I get what you're getting at, but think of it like this – We've got plenty of time to kill, we're duelists at a dueling tournament, and we're at an amusement park. Surely we've got a lot to do in order to kill about ten hours, wouldn't you say?"

"I guess…" Milo muttered. "Oh, and don't call me Shirley."

"Man, that joke's older than you are," Ansel groaned loudly in pain.

"But it's such a classic," Milo chuckled as he crossed his arms and turned slightly to the right, leaning against one of the nearby trashcans. "Besides, life would be dull if we didn't have classic jokes."

"There's a difference between classic and stale," Ansel sighed back as he began to head towards the bridge. "Now come on, I want to at least find the damn place we need to get to…"

"Excuse me you two!"

A loud booming voice sounded near the two duelists, and they were immediately drawn to the bridge where they were met with the very same person who had called out to them. The man in question was practically a mountain of muscle with a deep tan to his skin, his head topped off with a mess of crimson hair that billowed in front of his face. The man was dressed in a pair of baggy khaki cargo pants, a black vest (that looked to be made from a ripped jacket or something) and a short sleeved white shirt that saw better days.

The large man had a big grin on his face as he kept his arms crossed at the two duelists, "I was wondering if I could get a few words from you."

"Uh, sure," Ansel muttered as he took a slight step away from him. The last few encounters Ansel had with people here weren't the best he ever had…

"I'm looking for someone," the man replied as he lifted his arms up, bringing one of his hands to the middle of his chest. "She's a young lass about this tall, has short, reddish-brown hair, dressed a little like me… Don't suppose you've seen someone looking like that?"

"Not to my knowledge," Ansel answered back with a shake of his head. "How about you Milo?"

The young magician shook his head which prompted the mountain of a man to frown slightly, "I see, well, if you happen to see someone like that, tell her that her bigger brother is looking for her. Okay?"

"Uh, sure," Ansel stated before the large man nodded and began to walk away from the two. As soon as the man was out of ear shot, Vergil sighed loudly and shook his head. "Well, what in the world was that about? Lost child or something?"

"Might as well ask the source," Milo said as he looked towards the trashcan once more. "If you're done hiding down there, he's gone."

Ansel raised an eyebrow, a little curious why Milo was talking to the trashcan… At least until an oddly familiar figure stepped out from behind the metal trash unit. It was the very same girl that the mountain of muscle was asking about just a minute ago – Same hair color (albeit it was tied into a pair of tails near the bottom of her head that rested atop of her shoulders. She looked around, before she asked, "He's gone right?"

"Sure, sure," Milo chuckled as he adjusted his hat. "Just up and vanished actually."

"Good," The girl huffed slightly as she began to step away from the trashcan.

When the man of muscle said that the girl was dressed similarly to him, he wasn't kidding – The girl was practically dressed in the same kind of clothes that the man was wearing, save for the fact that they were a size or two bigger on her slim frame and that they looked to be of a finer quality. She also had a number of belts around her waist that had a deck case, a duel disk, and a few charms that showcased a several kinds of cute (yet strangely demonic) characters. "Sometimes I wish I didn't know him..."

"Ex-boyfriend? Stalker? Rabid fan?" Milo counted off with his head tilted slightly. "Maybe some cosplayer? He did call himself your bigger brother, so…"

"I think that's a little too forward," Ansel sighed loudly with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah, you may wanna back off a touch," the girl growled as she stepped away from Milo. "You're the one sounding like a rabid stalker fan… And I'm not anything special like that – The big oaf you just talked to was my older brother like he said."

"Oh, well, that's rather dull," Milo muttered as he pulled his hat over his eyes.

Ansel shook his head, "You're hopeless."

Ansel then turned his attention towards the girl, "And I get the feeling I'm going to regret this, but why in the world are you hiding from your brother?"

"Either of you got a sibling?" The girl asked with a dulled look in her eyes.

"Nope, only child," Milo playfully answered. "Folks didn't have the energy to…"

"I got a little sister," Ansel interrupted, a slight look of disgust on his face from Milo's answer.

"Then you know how it is that sometimes a sibling can get annoying," the girl answered as she turned away from the two. "My brother takes it to another level though…"

"Yeah, my little sister often gets on my nerves too," Ansel admitted as he closed his eyes, remembering all the times his little sister busted his chops and made his life a living hell – Especially that one time when she found his first edition Dark Magician Girl card pretty and glued it to a piece of paper to make a collage. "Did the big guy drag you here to the tournament?"

"In a sense," The girl replied with a shrug before she lifted up her left hand, revealing a duelist gauntlet that had the visor read two on it. "We're both in the tournament actually… And from the look of the duel disks, so are you two."

Both Ansel and Milo nodded back, prompting the girl to smirk brightly, "Well, aren't you two gonna introduce yourselves to a lady?"

"Ah, yes, that was rather rude, wasn't it?" Milo chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in the process. With a swift motion, Milo bowed slightly with his hat off. "Milo 'The Great' Ceaser at your service madame!"

"You're certainly a card," the girl chuckled with a step back from Milo's apparent energy. "And what about you, orange hair? What's your handle?"

A little annoyed with that comment, Ansel shook his head, "I don't have 'the Great' in my name – But the name on my license says Ansel Reaves."

"Cool," The girl replied with a nod. "Well, I go by Claire Flores, and I represent the fine academy of duelists of America – West Duel Academy."

"Duel Academy?" Ansel questioned with a raised eyebrow at Claire. "I didn't think that America had a duel academy… We got so many other types of education I'd figure that an academy for dueling would be viewed as a con job."

"Well, the school itself is actually accredited," Claire explained. "And while it's got the word 'duel' in its name, the academy is more like a private school that acts more like a high school. The school can make good duelists, but it's more like a school that's being funded by the Kaiba Corporation."

"Okay, well, it was nice to meet ya," Ansel stated with a shrug of his shoulders. "We've got some things to attend to and…"

"What are you talking about?" Milo questioned with an innocent smile on his face. "We've got plenty of time to check out Joliant – Not every day we've got a lovely lady to grace our presence…"

"You just dueled a girl," Ansel pointed out dully, matching the flat look in his eyes. "And that was less than an hour ago."

"That's no excuse to be rude to a lady though," Milo chuckled as he pulled his hat off and tapped it a few times. Then with a bright smile, Milo reached into the hat and pulled out a small bouquet of flowers that he held up to Claire. "Daisies for a young lass?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Claire sighed as she pushed the flowers to the side. "I'm not a huge fan of flowers… You mind keeping those out of my face?"

"My apologies!" Milo chuckled sheepishly as he tossed the flowers back into his hat and popped it back over his head. "Didn't know!"

"Look, as fun as this is," Ansel sighed with a shake of his head. "I've got something better to do and…"

"Oh come on," Claire sighed as she threw her arms behind her head. "At least hang for a little bit, dood! You two are practically the only other people I know here, aside from my brother – Kinda, sorta…

"I just wanna talk to some sane people for a little while before I get into dueling here," Claire sighed with a shake of her head. "I get enough of dealing with weirdoes and the like at the academy."

'_Tell me about it,'_ Ansel thought to himself as he rubbed his chin. "Well, alright… I haven't had a real good chance to look at Joliant… Although, what about your brother?"

"You've seen how big the guy is," Claire replied with a shake of her hand. "He's more than capable of handling himself in an amusement park without his big sister holding his hand."

That made Ansel and Milo look at each other for a few seconds, then Ansel turned back to Claire and simply asked, "… You're the older sibling?"

Claire sighed loudly, "Yes… I know. He likes calling himself 'bigger brother' since he's got a foot and a half of height on me, but I'm a year older than him. He's got an ego that's as big as him."

Meanwhile, a few yards away, hidden behind one of the many trees near the bridge, the very same bigger, younger brother was watching the group with a smirk on his face. "Oh ho! How very interesting – So my very own flesh and blood wishes to deceive me? This calls for some creative work."

**TTTTTTT**

Back in the deep recesses of Cress Paradise, Rookie was tapping his fingers against the desk he was at.

He wasn't a patient man, he wasn't a man who could sit around for hours on end, he wasn't a man who liked being toyed with by someone younger than him – He learned that last fact when he got his first job at a fast food joint (which he got fired at after he punched the snot-nosed teen who was his manager).

Normally, any of these facts alone he could stand.

Two of them, he'd be quite on edge to the point he'd probably teeter off that edge if he was pushed by the smallest of breezes…

But all three of them, well, it was a miracle that he hadn't broken all of the computers, the water cooler and eaten all of the lunches in the location he was at.

Rookie gritted his teeth, rather loudly as he slammed his fist into the table in front of him, '_Damn it! I've been here since the near beginning! I shouldn't be treated as a damn rookie! Especially by that little runt Pawn! She thinks she's the greatest thing since sliced bread!_

'_But I can't do anything about it – If I go outside, I can't leave Volk! If I'm seen challenging that lousy collector, then I can kiss this cushy job goodbye – And if the plot does succeed, I'll be ousted in a second!'_

With a loud growl the man slammed his forehead into the table loudly, '_This… SUCKS!'_

Rookie remained in that position for a few moments before he cackled loudly, "Man, I can be such a frickin' idiot sometimes! Kikikiki!"

Still laughing, Rookie stood up from the table and began to head towards one of the computers in the room, "I'm not going to be able to knock some sense into that loser, but that doesn't mean that I can't get someone else to do the dirty work for me…"

After he turned on the computer, Rookie brought up a screen that had a number of profiles on it, '_Of course, if I send one of my lackies then I'm pretty much shouting out that I'm challenging the punk – But, why use one of my duelists to get in trouble, when I can find a duelist who's officially in the tournament scene?_

'_Now, who should I get to trounce the orange haired jerk?'_

After a few minutes of pointing and clicking, Rookie's face began to curl up into a very devious smirk, "Oooh, that's a real good one… I can definitely use this guy, just need to find the right sort of payment to get him to work for me.

"KIKIKIKIKI!"

**TTTTTTT**

"So, why exactly are you here representing duel academy?" Ansel questioned as he leaned against the metallic beam of the bridge. "I didn't think that the academy had classes during the summer…"

Claire shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno, West Academy lets is students go home for summer and winter breaks, but some students like to stay at the academy during that time. It was kind of the case with me and my little brother, I won't get into the details.

"But long story short, the academy was asked to get three students to compete in the tournament – Me and my brother were there at the time, so we were asked to do so. Another student's around here somewhere, but I don't know who it is."

"Meh, not like it matters," Ansel stated as he looked around. "The only thing I care about right now is where Milo is with the cash I gave him – We sent him to get drinks about twenty minutes ago…"

"Maybe he skipped out?" Claire suggested. "Took your money and ran?"

"Yeesh, and I had enough money issues," Ansel grumbled under his breath with a dulled look in his eyes.

"Have you known Milo for a while?" Claire asked with her head tilted slightly.

"Met him an hour ago," Ansel muttered with a roll of his eyes. "And I know what you're gonna say, yes, I shouldn't trust a guy I just met, but the guy owes me."

"How's that? He save your life or something?" Claire chuckled with a devilish grin on her face.

"Nah, guy tried cutting me in half over an hour ago," Ansel admitted dully with his eyes closed.

"… Wow, I don't know how to respond to that," Claire replied.

"Meh," Ansel growled with a shake of his head. "May need to go after him…"

"There's no need to do so!"

Both Ansel and Claire turned to the side at the sound of the loud, yet familiar voice to see none other than the same red haired man – Claire's younger, bigger brother – Standing before the two of them, a large grin plastered all over his face. But that wasn't what really caught their attention.

What caught their attention was the fact that the younger brother had Milo slung over his shoulder, tied up in a mass of rope that covered his body from mid-chest to the tops of his ankles – Easy to see since Claire's brother was standing at an angle. Milo chuckled sheepishly with a rather weak smile on his face, "H-Hey guys!"

"Milo! What the hell?!" Ansel snapped.

"Sorry, Ansel!" Milo moaned with tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. "He just got the jump on me!"

"Aren't you supposed to be a magician?" Claire questioned with dulled look in her eyes. "Shouldn't you have the ability to escape from those ropes?"

"I… Kinda skipped over that chapter in the book," Milo chuckled sheepishly before he was spun away from looking at the two other duelists. "Oooh, boy!"

"Yes! I got the drop on him!" Claire's younger brother laughed loudly. "I, the flavor of evil, your brother, the one and only Wes Flores!"

"Wes, seriously what the hell!?" Claire snapped back with her foot slamming into the ground. "Don't you remember the last time you tied someone up?! You got slapped with a kidnapping charge!"

"A necessary sacrifice, my dear sister," Wes laughed back as he adjusted Milo over his shoulder. "Besides, it's not as if I've broken any laws yet, you heard the man, he's skipped out how to escape from ropes. At the moment, I'm just helping him learn."

"That… actually sounds plausible," Ansel muttered under his breath. "So… Your brother's evil, huh?"

"No, he's not," Claire growled with a slap to her forehead. "He's just being an idiot, as usual. Wes, just what the hell are you doing?"

"I told you, I'm evil!" Wes laughed evilly. "And I'm exacting my revenge against these two fools! They lied right to my face about knowing where you were – And frankly, I don't take too kindly to that around here!

"So, I'll be throwing this guy in the river – That'll be good incentive for him to practice his escape arts."

"STOP!" Both Ansel and Claire shouted out loudly at Wes.

"I know, I know," Wes chuckled as easily tossed Milo up into the air a few times with a single arm. "It's a little much, but it's either that or a Guinea pig with a chainsaw."

"Wait, what?" Ansel questioned as he tilted his head slightly.

"A Guinea pig with a chainsaw," Wes repeated himself as he used his free arm to gesture towards the side. "Like that mascot over there."

Ansel had to look in the direction that Wes gestured towards, and much to his chagrin and surprise, there was a large mascot that looked to be a purple furred guinea pig with a toy chainsaw in one paw and balloons in another. It was weird to see a bunch of young kids flocking to the weird mascot. '_… Whoever approved of these mascots must've been messed up in the head!'_

"Who cares about the mascot?!" Claire shouted at Wes. "Wes! Just put him down, we don't need another lawsuit on our hands!"

"I will not!" Wes retorted with a serious look in his eyes. "If you wish for me to release him, I shall do so only when you become victorious in a duel!"

"… Are you serious?" Ansel questioned with a large bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. "Who does that for a duel?!"

"Someone EVIL!" Wes laughed loudly. "But that's beside the point, I'm not gonna let him go until Claire defeats someone in a duel. I can't duel her myself since there wouldn't be any fun to that – We duel each other all the time, and we both know each other's strategies!"

"So, I just need to duel someone and you'll drop this stunt of yours?" Claire asked, her eyes slowly turning towards Ansel. "Will anyone do?"

'_Uh oh,_' Ansel thought to himself as he watched Claire reach for her duel disk.

"No, no, no," Wes interrupted with a wave of his hand. "I've already prepared an opponent for you to face against, sis! What sort of force of EVIL do you take me for? Nay, sis, the opponent you'll be fighting is this – My cohort!"

"Damn it, you big lug, how many times do I hafta tell ya that I ain't yer cohort!"

As Wes turned to the side, it was revealed that there was a fifth person amongst the small group of duelists – This one was a rather young woman dressed in a green jacket that was covered with a tan vest and tan pants. The woman in question had long brown hair that was covered with a red beanie cap and had a few strands of purple hair popping from underneath the cap in front of her tanned face. The girl had an average figure, but there was something familiar about her but Ansel couldn't put his finger on it…

"I've got too much pride to be labeled as a crony, ya big galoot!" the woman huffed as she slapped Wes's free shoulder with one of her hands. "Sides, you just asked me to duel yer sister, I don't see how that makes me a damn cohort!"

"It does when I've given you ten cards as a payment," Wes replied with his smirk growing larger.

"He does have a point, ya know," Ansel muttered to himself.

"Whatev's," the young woman grumbled with a roll of her eyes before she lifted a finger up towards Claire. "So, I jus gotta beat this girl here, right?"

"Well, try to beat," Wes added with a nod. "But yes, essentially you do have to try to defeat my sister over there. Just duel her, and the cards I promised you are all yours, Miss Ryuzaki."

"Yeesh, 'Miss Ryuzaki' makes me sound like an old lady," the young woman growled as she activated the duel disk she had strapped to her arm. "I thought I told ya to lay off the surname and call me Tomoko – Not like I'm in Japan anymore."

"Ryuzaki?" Ansel muttered under his breath as he turned to the side. "Where have I heard that name before?"

Unfortunately for Ansel, everyone else seemed to ignore the collector as he began to search in his thoughts. Wes had stepped to the side opposite of Ansel, with the still tied up Milo in tow, all the while both Claire and Tomoko stood across from each other, shuffling a pair of duel monster decks.

"Sorry that my brother roped you into this," Claire apologized with a slightly lowered head. "He can be quite the idiot sometimes…"

"Meh, don't worry about it," Tomoko replied with a shrug as she held up Claire's deck. "I was just the closest person around before he roped up that dood."

"That's typical," Claire muttered under her breath as she took her deck and handed back Tomoko's. "Oh well, I needed a duel anyway… I just wish he wouldn't pull this crap all the time."

"Yeesh, no need to complain about every little detail," Tomoko stated as she stepped back a few feet, while Claire did the same. "It's a tournament, you're gonna have to expect that a few people are gonna pull these kinds of stunts – Last tournament I went to, this one weird guy with thick glasses used duel cuffs on every opponent he saw to make sure they wouldn't run."

"That's kinda messed up," Claire admitted with a roll of her eyes.

"Tell me about it," Tomoko replied as she lifted her arm up, activating her duel disk. "Later of course, for now, we're dueling this!"

Claire nodded back as she pointed a finger towards Tomoko, "Fine, if we're going to do this – Then we'll do it right! Hope you're ready Tomoko, cause I don't hold back!" (CLP: 8000)

"Good to know," Tomoko replied as she pulled off the opening hand of her deck. "But, it's easy to say that – Let's see how well you can practice what you preach!" (TLP: 8000)

Claire drew off a sixth card from her deck and spun the card between her fingers as she brought the card to her face. "I won't disappoint then! I'll start this off by setting one monster face down, and two cards face down."

The three cards materialized in front of Claire, one of the three horizontally placed in front of her. "And I'll call it a turn!"

"Typical move," Tomoko sighed with a shake of her head. "I can already tell that you're fishing to see what I'm using, not bad… But it'll be too late when ya figure it out! Heck, I already got one of the cards in my hand to bust out one of my bigger baddies!

"But, 'fore we get to that, let's do a little cleaning!"

Tomoko spun around a different card in her hand and held it up before she slipped it into her duel disk, "I'm playing Mystical Space Typhoon! And I'm busting up one of yer face down cards! I think I'll take out that one on the right!"

Claire grimaced as she watched a powerful twister erupt from Tomoko's duel disk and crashed into the face down card that was on Claire's right, making it lift up to reveal the trap card Dimensional Prison before it shattered like glass. "Great, so much for that plan…"

"Ya know what they say about plans, half the time they don't work," Tomoko stated as she waved around one of the cards in her hand. "Oh well, ya never know what's gonna happen – I'll call up one of my baddies! Now, the only question is… Which one? I've got a good selection, but…

"I think I'll go with this one!"

Tomoko held up a card and immediately slapped it onto her duel disk, making a powerful flame erupt in front of her, followed by a powerful roar. The flames pulled back to reveal a red, blue and yellow scaled raptor appear on the field, flames dancing on its long neck, talons, tail and dripping from its mouth. The enflamed dinosaur snarled loudly as it stomped into the ground (1700/400). "Jurrac Guaiba!"

"Dinosaurs? And Jurracs at that?" Claire stated as she turned towards Wes. "Is this some sort of joke Wes?"

"I wouldn't underestimate them," Wes laughed back with a large smirk on his face. "Especially in the hands of this duelist!"

"He's got a point," Tomoko added with a wag of her finger. "But why talk when we've got a monster out on the field? Guaiba! Burn that set monster!"

The large fiery dinosaur roared loudly before it spewed a large amount of flames that flew through the air and crashed into the face down monster, for a moment, the card just remained as it was, taking the abuse of the flames, at least until the card flipped up to reveal a small critter with orange-brown fur covering its round body, its small arms covering its three-eyed face (1000/600).

When the creature was revealed, the flames pounced onto it and burned it into the ground, shattering the small monster into millions shards that danced across the field. Claire smirked as she held a hand up to her deck, "Thanks, I'm sure you know what Sangan can do."

"And I'm sure you don't know what Guaiba can do!" Tomoko added as she held her hand up to her deck. "Cause when he destroys a monster in battle, I can summon another Jurrac from my deck! So, yeah! You can pull a monster from your deck, and I can pull a monster from mine too!"

Both duelists pulled the cards from their decks and held them up, Claire spun her card around, "Fine by me! I'll take Necro Gardna!"

"And I'll summon Jurrac Aeolo!" Tomoko shouted as she slapped her card onto her duel disk.

A small flame popped on the field and formed into small yellow egg with red flame designs on it. The egg began to crack until a cute, little dinosaur with blue and yellow scales popped out of the egg with a tiny flame escaping from its mouth. The dino seemed to be a raptor of sorts, but Claire couldn't tell (200/200). "Ain't he a little cutie? I'll end my turn by placing two cards in the background…"

The two cards materialized in front of Tomoko, and with a large smirk on her face, "Let see what ya got, schoolgirl."

"Was that supposed to be an insult or something?" Claire asked as she pulled off her next card.

"Naw, I just don't know yer name," Tomoko explained with a shrug of her shoulders. "Yer brother didn't bother to say what it was when he made the deal with me."

"Oh, uh, okay," Claire replied as she looked at the cards in her hand. "Well, we won't dwell on that, instead, we'll focus on this! I play the spell card, Into the Void!

"Since I've got at least three cards in my hand, I can play this card to pull another card from my deck. Of course, at the end of my turn, I'll have to discard my entire hand."

"Okay, that's odd," Tomoko added as she watched Claire draw another card from her deck, giving her five cards in her hand.

"Maybe, but we'll see what'll happen in a few seconds," Claire replied as she spun around another card from her hand. "I call Stygian Street Patrol!"

A loud revving engine roared through the air, and a large demonic motorcycle skidded onto the field in front of Claire, its rider a demonic biker with a horned helmet (1600/1200). "And now, my patrol will attack your Aeolo!"

The Stygian rider revved the engine once more before it forced the motorcycle zoom across the field towards the egg shelled dinosaur.

"Ya said attack, too late to take it back now!" Tomoko laughed as she pushed a button on her duel disk, making one of her two face down cards flip up, revealing a trap card that had a large black scaled Tyrannosaurus Rex that was breaking through a rather peculiar electric fence. "I activate Electric Fence Break! Dis counter trap activates when ya target a dino on my field for either an attack, spell or trap effect.

"So, now my Aeolo gets back to my hand, and in turn, I get to play another dino to take the hit instead!"

Aeolo popped into a small cloud of smoke, and in its place was a small raptor that looked to be made out of flint rocks, as the monster appeared on the field, its feet rubbed against the ground and created sparks against the concrete (1000/1000). "So say 'ello to my Flint Rock Raptor! Of course, I got him in defense mode, and I should also point out that thanks to my trap card, yer monster's gotta attack my new one!"

"Fine with me!" Claire announced as she snapped her fingers, making the Stygian Street Patrol skid straight into the raptor, shattering it into millions of shards of flint rocks that bounced around the field.

Tomoko growled under her breath as a few of the pieces bounced into her, making a few nicks on her clothing, but otherwise she was unmarred by the attack. (TLP: 7400)

"And as a side bonus," Claire replied with a snap of her fingers, making the demonic motorcyclist spin around on the field, creating a number of skid marks on the ground with smoke billowing about. "You take an additional one hundred points of damage for every level that monster had! And if I looked correctly, your monster was a level three!"

"Three hundred points?" Tomoko sighed loudly as the exhaust smoke whipped around her body, with an annoyed look, Tomoko waved the smoke away. "Big deal…" (TLP: 7100)

That's when Tomoko's duel disk beeped loudly, allowing a single card to fall from her deck. "'sides, yer not the only one with a monster effect. Flint Rock Raptor's got one too! And its effect allows me to pull a level three or lower Fire monster from my deck. And I think I'll be pulling another Jurrac Aeolo."

Tomoko spun around the card she pulled from her deck and indeed, it was a second egg shelled dinosaur with flames around it. "But, that's all I got, anything else from yer side, prep school?"

With a narrowed brow, Claire looked at the last four cards in her hand and nodded. "Actually yes. I'll set one card face down. And during my end phase, I'm forced to send the last few cards from my hand to the graveyard."

With a casual smirk on her face, Claire slipped the last three cards from her hand into her duel disk's graveyard.

"And so, it's begun," Wes laughed as he carefully placed the still tied up Milo on the ground, standing him up on his feet. "The Legend of Zero has showed itself once more."

"Legend of Zero?" Milo questioned with a tilt of his head. "Where does that come from?"

"Oh, that's because of my sister's reputation at the academy," Wes replied with a large smile on his face. "She's got zero talent in class, zero sexual appeal, zero…"

Wes would've continued, but he immediately ducked to dodge a precisely thrown empty soda can, "And apparently zero aim."

"Damn it Wes! Are you purposely trying to piss me off?!" Claire snapped as she gripped her hand tightly.

"And also zero tolerance to take a joke," Wes added nonchalantly.

"Yeah, yeah," Tomoko replied as she slipped off another card from her deck. "In case the lot of ya forgot, we're dueling here! Draw!"

Looking at the newest card she just drew, Tomoko immediately slapped it on her duel disk, "And I've got just what I need to make this duel not a zero fer me! I summon Jurrac Iguanon!"

Another powerful flame erupted from the ground next to Tomoko, this one forming into another fiery dinosaur – This one however had green and deep blue scales and had a slightly beaked mouth. The dinosaur roared loudly next to Guaiba, making the flames around the two surge greatly (1700/700).

"Now then… I could attack yer monster with Guaiba and call out another Jurrac," Tomoko spoke to herself with a thoughtful look on her face. "But you saved that face down card of yers from yer spell's effect, so ya wanna use it."

Claire didn't say a word as Tomoko wagged her finger, "Silent, eh? Good, then I've got a clear shot for something else! Let's see, I got two level four dinosaur type monsters out on the field… So, I think I'll open up the overlay network!"

The two dinosaurs snarled loudly with their bodies transforming into a pair of red streams of light that flew through the air. A powerful vortex ripped through the ground in front of Tomoko, drawing in the two streams of red energy. The vortex exploded with an incredibly loud roar…

Sparks flew around the field to announce the arrival of the newest monster on Tomoko's field, which was a large meta-silver skinned dragon with a bulky body, large arms and three pairs of wings that flapped several times to keep the large dragon's body air-born with the sparks flowing around its body (2400/2000). "The mighty Evolzar Laggia! And wouldn't ya know it, with him out, I don't hafta worry 'bout your face down card! Laggia! Burn that wannabe Hell's Angel!"

With a loud cackle, the large dragon flew across the field and immediately slammed one of its mighty claws into the Stygian Street Patrol, shattering it into millions of pixels. (CLP: 7200)

"And with that, we're almost tied," Tomoko snickered as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Nothing like pure power to get the edge in a duel!"

A loud snap echoed through the air, drawing everyone's attentions back to our main character who lifted his hand up and immediately pointed his finger towards Tomoko. "Now I remember! You're related to that one duelist – Rex Raptor, right?"

"Please, don't use my dad's duelist name," Tomoko sighed loudly with a roll of her eyes. "His name is Dinosaur Ryuzaki, although, that's what ma and he tell."

"The infamous Dinosaur Duelist, Dinosaur Ryuzaki," Ansel stated with his arms crossed. "Also known in the circuit as Rex Raptor, a C-Rated duelist who used nothing but power in his duels – A shame that he disappeared into the shadows after Battle City…"

"Whoa, that's kinda harsh, don't ya think?" Milo stated.

"Indeed, not the right choice of words," Wes added with a nod.

"Ha! But he's right!" Tomoko chuckled loudly with her arms thrown behind her head. "My old man was a loser, through and through. He lost to a bleedin' cheater at the regionals before the Duelist Kingdom tournament, and what was worse was that he actually teamed up with that same cheater on a few occasions…

"I swear, if my mom didn't put him in a headlock and knock some sense into the hardheaded idiot, he might've lost any decent future."

"Yeesh, got father issues, maybe?" Claire asked as she drew from the top of her deck.

"Naw," Tomoko stated with a wave of her hand. "Truth is, I love the old goofball – Heck, I got into this tourney to help out my old man. Always tells me if there were more dino support back in his day, he'd probably be a lot better of a duelist."

'_Grammar is lost on his girl,'_ Ansel thought to himself with his eyes closed. '_But, I gotta respect that – Dinosaur Ryuzaki would've been a better duelist if there was more support for dinosaurs back in his early days. There wasn't a lot of type specific support to be given and more than likely he was just trying to scrap together whatever cards he could get his hands on in order to play this game._

'_I'm willing to bet that he'd give his left foot to have some of the cards that I got in my binder – Heck, I got a couple of Laggia in there somewhere.'_

"But anyway, show me what ya got, prep school," Tomoko replied as she pumped up her first. "I'm tired of talkin' 'bout my family, and I wanna get back to the reason why I accepted this duel – Get yer turn going on!"

"Oh, I intend on doing so," Claire replied as she spun around the card she just drew from her hand. "Since I don't have another cards in my hand when I drew this guy, I can summon out Infernity Archfiend!"

A powerful dark flame surged in front of the young duelist, forming into a grey skinned, slim demon in blue robes and wild orange hair (1800/1200). The demon cackled loudly as it lifted its long arms up into the air…

"Nope! Not happenin'!" Tomoko stated as both of the orbs of light that floated around Laggia's body, allowing the glowing dragon's body glow even brighter and make the Infernity Archfiend screech loudly in pain. "Laggia's effect will nuke your summon!"

And just like that, the Archfiend shattered like glass.

"Laggia stops the summon in its tracks, so ya don't get its effect!" Tomoko laughed loudly with a snap of her fingers. "I'm not gunna let ya put me in that Infernity lock."

"Well, you don't get a choice in the matter," Claire stated as she pushed a button on her duel disk, making her face down card flip up. "I play Call of the Haunted! I don't think I'll have to tell you what I'm going to…"

"I play my own face down!" Tomoko laughed as she snapped her fingers, making several coins pop from the set card. "Dark Bribe! So, fer the cost of letting ya draw a card, I get to stop ya from activating that trap of yers!"

Claire sighed as she drew from the top of her deck, "Well, that kinda ruins things…"

"What can I say?" Tomoko chuckled as she rubbed the bridge of her nose a few times. "I know how to have fun – And that includes on how to make some plans break."

"True, but you haven't really derailed my strategy, not yet," Claire replied as she slipped a card into her duel disk. "I'll start by setting one card face down, then I'll play my other face down card! Go! Handless Combo!"

Claire's remaining face down card lifted up to reveal a dark coated duelist slamming several powerful kicks into floating down duel monster cards. "This card can only be activated when I've got no cards in my hand, and when I don't, I can activate one of two effects during each of my turns…

"And I'll go with the first effect – Once per turn, if I don't have any cards in my hand, I can pay eight hundred life points and add a DARK monster from my graveyard to my hand…" (CLP: 6400)

A single card slipped out of Claire's duel disk, but she immediately turned the card around, "So, I'll be taking back my Infernity Archfiend…"

"Huh, that's clever," Ansel stated with a smirk on his face. "Not bad at all…"

"Next, I'll activate the effect of my Stygian Street Patrol!" Claire announced as a single card popped out from her graveyard again. "By removing it from my graveyard, I can special summon a fiend from my hand, so long as it has less than two thousand defense points…

"Oh, and look at this, I only have one fiend in my hand!"

With a powerful black explosion, the same skinny archfiend appeared on the field, laughing loudly (1800/1200).

"I can't help but feel he's laughin' at me," Tomoko stated as Claire's deck began to glow brightly.

"I wouldn't know," Claire replied with a shrug of her shoulders as she held her hand up to her deck, catching a single card from the deck. "But in any case, I'm sure you know what my archfiend can do, since you were so intent on stopping me from summoning it. I can take any Infernity card from my deck and add it to my hand!"

Holding the card up, Claire spun it around to reveal another monster, "So, I'll summon him! I call out Infernity Necromancer!"

From Claire's shadow, a large cloak covered demon slipped out from the darkness, its skull covered head with wild hair floated next to the Archfiend (0/2000). The cloaked Infernity monster crossed its arms over its check. "And when this bad boy is summoned, whether I've got cards in my hand or not, he moves to defense mode.

"Of course, when I don't have any cards in my hand, like right now, I can call out another Infernity from my graveyard! And guess what? I've got just the perfect one in there!"

Reaching into her graveyard's slot, Claire spun around another card and slapped it onto her duel disk. But, unlike the other two Infernity monsters, this one simply flew over the field, being a large black Hercules beetle (1200/0). "Infernity Beetle! But, he won't be around for too long, I use his effect!

"Like all other Infernity monsters his effect comes into play, by tributing him, I can call out two more from my deck!"

The Infernity Beetle surged with black energy before it shattered into millions of pixels in front of the young duelist, melding into the ground. Two loud buzz sounds echoed through the air, with two more Infernity Beetles zooming through the air (1200/0 x2).

Tomoko growled under her breath as she looked at the beetles, "Well that's just perfect…"

"Two tuners," Milo said with his head tilted slightly.

"It's only the second turn, and she's gonna pull it off," Wes chuckled with a large goofy grin on his face. "It's the beauty of the Infernity deck – Capable of mass summoning and quick Synchro arts…"

"Wow, how dramatic," Milo stated with a small bead of sweat appearing on the side of his head.

"And corny," Ansel added.

"Oh get off my deck's case," Claire replied with her eyes narrowed. "Besides, I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve with this deck. And you're about to meet one! I synch one of my level two Beetles with my level four Archfiend!"

One of the two beetles transformed into two rings of dark energy that flew around the Infernity Archfiend's body, making it become four stars of dark light that erupted into a large tower of energy. As the energy began to warp, the soothing tones of a harmonica echoed through the air.

It was then that the energy disbursed and in the powerful tower's place was a sleek shadowed figured dressed in a brown, ragged poncho with western clothes underneath it. The monster appeared to be male, but that was only due to its figure. Around the monster's waist and legs were several belts that had ammo strapped to them, and the monster had a ragged ten gallon hat that topped its head of long silver hair. The monster's hands were brought up to its face where the creature's face was covered with a skull-like mask that covered the top half of its face while the creature played a harmonica with both of its hands (2000/0). "Dusty demonic trails lead him down the road he walks, I Synchro Summon Infernity Desperado!"

"Wow, that is… Interesting," Ansel muttered under his breath, slumping his shoulders slightly at the sight of the monster. "I know that the Infernity cards got more monsters recently, but I thought that they were going to stick with the medieval theme."

Claire then turned her attention towards Ansel, with her eyes narrowed down at the orange haired duelist, "Hey! I'll have you know that this card was made in honor of one of the greatest Infernity duelists ever – And this is your only warning!"

"All I said was interesting," Ansel muttered under his breath with a dulled look in his eyes.

"In any case, I'm gonna go straight into my battle phase!" Claire announced as she pumped her fist up into the air, prompting the Infernity Desperado to pocket his harmonica. "And go straight into an attack with my Desperado!"

The skull-masked Infernity monster drew a pair of six shooters from the back of its belt and aimed them at the Evolzar Laggia. However, the glowing dragon seemed to cackle loudly as it flew across the field, its arms burning brightly with energy. Tomoko herself couldn't help but laugh as well, "Hey, if you wanted to lose, all you had to do was ask – But I guess attacking a stronger monster will suffice!"

"Wow, that's a five-dollar word right there," Claire chuckled as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Too bad it's wasted! Since I've got no cards in my hand – I can use Desperado's effect! When he battles certain types of monsters, he gets half of the opposing monster's attack added to his for the battle!"

The Evolzar threw one of its fiery claws through the air, bringing them down upon the Despardo's head, however, the gunman quickly brought up both of its guns up to the claw and fired a pair of bullets into the claw, sending it up to the air once more. The Evolzar roared in pain as it lifted up a rather bloodied claw.

But the dragon didn't have time to nurse it's wound, for the Infernity Desperado brought both of its guns into the Evolzar's chest and pulled the triggers (2000/0 +1200/0), shattering the dragon into millions of shards that flew through the air. (TLP: 6300)

Tomoko grumbled under her breath as she slipped the card into her duel disk's graveyard slot, "Not bad, but I have yet begun to fight!"

"Good to know," Claire sighed as she threw her arms over her head. "Cause I still have one more attack! Infernity Beetle! Blast away!"

The remaining black beetle flew through the air and slammed into Tomoko's torso, sending her skidding back a few feet. "Urk! Cheap shot!" (TLP: 5100)

"It's a duel," Claire replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's not like we're actually punching each other and making actual wounds."

'_Speak for yourself,'_ Ansel thought to himself with a dulled look on his face.

"Since I don't have anything in my hand," Claire announced with her hands up in front of her face. "I gotta end my turn."

"'bout time," Tomoko muttered under her breath as she drew from the top of her deck, with a smirk. "Nice, and I drew one of the best cards in my deck!"

"And you're okay with announcing that?" Claire stated with a dull look in her eyes.

"Not like ya can stop this," Tomoko announced as she slipped a card into her duel disk, making it appear before her. "First, I'll set this little number face down, and activate my other face down card! Go – Molten Jurassic Egg!"

The ground behind Tomoko began to surge up and immediately unleash a large geyser of magma that formed into a large, stone egg that had lava popping from its form. "We'll get to what this little bugger can do in a little bit, but for now, I'll be playing this card, Card Destruction!

"I don't think I need to tell you what this card can do, but since you don't have any cards in your hand, that means you don't get to draw or discard – I on the other hand, well, two to the grave, and two to the hand!"

And just like that, Tomoko slipped the last two cards from her hand into her duel disk and just as quickly pulled off the top two cards from her deck. Claire on the other hand just rolled her eyes.

"And now, fer my ultimate combo!" Tomoko announced as she snapped a finger, making the face down card she just set flip up. "I activate my spell card – Rekindling!"

The face down spell flipped up to unleash several flames that began to dance around the field, "Dis card usually is a staple for that one archtype – Flambe? Flamingo? Flan?"

Everyone watching the duel couldn't help but blink in confusion at the misrepresentation of the card's favored archetype, but Tomoko didn't really care, especially when two of the flames crashed in front of her. "Meh, doesn't matter really! Cause I can use it to bring back a familiar face or two!"

The two flames began to scatter until they revealed a pair of familiar red and yellow eggs that were designed to have flames on them. The two eggs shook until they cracked to reveal a pair of Jurrac Aeleo. (200/200 x2). They were the only things that cracked though, the large Molten Jurassic Eeg had four cracks appear on it. "Now then, time to use their effects! I don't think I gotta tell ya what these little guys can do! I activate their effects!"

Both of the Aeleos popped into small flames that flew through the air and just as quickly crashed into the ground. A pair of roars echoed through the air as the Jurrac Guaiba (1700/400) and Jurrac Iguanon (1700/700) rushed back onto the field. At the same time, four more cracks appeared on the large molten egg behind Tomoko. "And now, its time to use the effect of my big egg right here!"

"Already?" Ansel questioned raising an eyebrow at the egg. "What in the world is that thing supposed to be anyway?"

"Not that it concerns ya, orange," Tomoko stated as she wagged a finger. "This is more for the prep school's concern, but I'll explain it anyway – Ya see, every time a certain kind of monster is special summoned, in this case Fire Dinos, I can place two counters on it. So, at the moment, this little puppy's got eight counters on it."

"And what exactly does that mean?" Claire asked with her eyes narrowed. "I highly doubt that it's anything good."

"Well, for me it is," Tomoko chuckled with a snap of her fingers. "Ya see, it's an egg, and what comes out of an egg? Well, look at my deck, it sure as hell ain't gonna be Ultra Mega Chicken. But, in game terms, I can add a dino from my deck with a level equal to or lower to the number of counters on my egg…

"So, I think ya can do what that means – I can pull out a level eight monster!"

The egg shattered and a single glowing card popped from Tomoko's deck, "And now, I've got a powerful monster right here… And two monsters that I can tribute… Gee, I wonder what I'll do?"

"Oh yeah? Bring on the Jurrac monsters!" Claire replied with her arm pumped up. "I can take it!"

"Jurrac? Please, I got something much better to bust out!" Tomoko announced as both of her Jurracs shattered like glass.

A powerful explosion erupted around Tomoko's body, completely overshadowing the dino duelist. The explosion began to take form until it formed into a very titanic shadow that roared loudly. As the shadows began to shed from the large form, it was revealed to be a very large stegosaurus, at least, it looked like a stegosaurus. Its main body was covered with red and silver armor with a large fortress built into its back that had a number of cannons mounted on its back. The large dinosaur shook its head before it roared loudly (1200/2800). "Say 'ello to Fortress Fossil Stego!"

"Uh, yeah, not that impressive," Claire muttered under her breath with a roll of her eyes. "But then again, I've seen some weirder cards – Some with worse stats…"

"Oh yeah, this is one of my best cards," Tomoko stated as she snapped her fingers, making all of the cannons on the large mechanical dinosaur focused down on the field. "So, let's show it off! Fortress Fossil Stego! Take a shot at that last bug she's go!"

"A moving fortress against a beetle," Ansel stated out loud with a flat look on his face. "I'm actually kinda curious how this will play out…"

The larger dinosaur roared loudly as energy began to focus at the ends of its cannons and immediately fired a volley of energy that flew through the air, aimed at the smaller Infernity Beetle. The small, black beetle flew past all of the laser blasts until it flew right into the face of the stego, making both of the monsters explode in millions of pixels.

"Huh, didn't expect that," Ansel admitted with a smirk on his face. "Quite a fun little battle."

"Good thing its not over yet!" Tomoko announced as a powerful explosion immediately erupted behind her. From the remains of the explosion, a rather familiar dinosaur covered in steel and cannons emerged behind Tomoko, albeit there were more cannons on this version (1200/2800 + 800/0). "Ya'll familiar with UFO Turtle?"

"That's a real old card," Ansel stated with a rub of his chin. "I'd be surprised if anyone now-a-days had a copy of it."

"Yeah, I've only heard of the card," Claire added with her head tilted slightly.

"That's what you get for sleeping in class, Claire!" Wes laughed.

"Shut up!"

"'ello! Gal with the large dragon with cannons mounted on its back getting mad over here!" Tomoko shouted as she stomped her foot on the ground a few times. "In case ya didn't notice, I got me a monster that just summoned itself from my deck and all I had to do was remove one of my Aeolos from my graveyard. And that's not all my dino can do!

"For each copy of its card in my graveyard, it gains eight hundred extra attack points!"

"Well that's just great!" Tomoko growled loudly. "That means that you… What in the world?"

"Get this guy away from me!" Tomoko shouted holding Ansel back with her hand, easily keeping him at bay.

"SUCH A FIND!" Ansel shouted with a large smirk on his face as he looked at Tomoko's duel disk. "Is that a promo card?! Do you have three copies?! Do you have more?! W-Would you like to make a trade for all three?!"

"TOMOKO KICK!"

With a quick spin, Tomoko delivered a powerful kick to Ansel's stomach, sending the young collector to the ground. "URK!"

"Step off!" Tomoko growled as she threw her fist up into the air. "Now then, back to the battle! This time, we're aiming for that John Wayne Wannabe! Fortress Fossil Stego!"

Once more, the cannons began to charge up once more, but this time, the Desperado drew his guns and quickly unleashed a volley of bullets at the large mechanical stegosaurus's head. The bullets struck the stegosaurus's head and caused the Fortress Fossil to explode, but not before a number of fiery shots were unleashed and crashed into the Desperado's body.

With both monster's gone, Tomoko slowly pulled out another card from her graveyard, "Now then, I'll remove the other Aeolo to bring out a familiar face!"

A second explosion popped behind Tomoko, and with it, the third and final Fortress Fossil Stego stomped onto the field (1200/2800 + 1600/0). "And now, time to get rid of the final obstacle! Stego! Do your stuff!"

Without any hesitation, the large dinosaur unleashed third barrage of lasers that blew up into the Necromancer, incinerating it within seconds.

Tomoko chuckled with a large grin on her face, "Sure, I couldn't inflict damage to ya this turn, but I managed to git rid of a ton of yer cards on the field! I'll end this turn by setting one card face down!"

"Uh, Ansel? Are you okay over there?" Claire asked as Ansel slowly sat up, his arms wrapped around his stomach.

"Ugh, thanks for asking," Ansel moaned.

"Well, that's good, now I can do this without worry!" Claire announced as she spun around a single card in her hand before she slapped it onto her duel disk. "I summon Infernity Dancer!"

The sound of bells jingled through the air as a large cloud of smoke shifted in front of the young student. The smoke began to churn as a shadowed figure pranced through the dark smoke until the smog dissipated and the figure was revealed to be a beautiful young woman dressed in ragged red and black ceremonial clothing with baggy pants that had slits on the sides to show off her slim legs and a top that was adorned with various dragon skulls around her neck, shoulder and even had a pair of skulls in her long black hair that created a pair of tails for her (300/800). The woman bowed down and allowed her long black hair slowly touch the ground next to her.

"Another new one?" Tomoko stated with her head slightly tilted. "Oh boy, and what can this one do?"

"Well, her first effect is rather moot at the moment," Claire stated as she snapped her fingers. "But, thanks to her second effect, I can send her to the graveyard and special summon a level three or lower Infernity from my deck!"

With a large smile on her face, the Dancer spun around and popped into a large cloud of smoke in front of Claire. The smoke began to solidify and formed into a second Infernity Necormancer that knelt down in front of Claire (0/2000). "And now, time to use his effect!"

Tomoko only yawned in reply as the Necromancer created a large orb of darkness between its claws. "That's rather tiresome – I've seen a lot of Infernity decks, and you're falling into the same rut here…"

Claire didn't say a word as the dark orb in the necromancer's hands began to take shape, "Maybe, but it's not like I'm complaining! Necromancer! Call forth Infernity Archfiend!"

The inky dark orb popped into a familiar cackling scrawny Archfiend (1800/1200). "And don't forget, when I don't have any cards in my hand when this guy is special summoned, I can pull another Infernity card from my deck!"

Once again, a single card slipped from Claire's deck and she slipped it into her duel disk. "And wouldn't ya know it, I'm going for a classic! Infernity Launcher!"

Claire's spell card emerged onto the field, the holographic card displaying the Infernity Archfiend and another Infernity monster dressed like a demonic cowboy being launched from a fiendish cannon. "Of course, it's not staying here long – I use its effect! Now I can send my spell to the graveyard and special summon two more Infernities from my graveyard!

"So, I'll bring out two more familiar faces!"

The spell card shattered like glass, the pixelated remains reforming into another familiar pair of Infernities – One of them was the buzzing beetle (1200/0), while the other was the first original Infernity Necromancer (0/2000).

Without saying a word, Claire snapped her fingers, and the recently summoned Necromancer created another inky black orb between its clawed hands. Then just as quickly as the demon threw the inky orb to the ground that splashed around. The inky mess floated up from the ground, and immediately formed into a second Infernity Beetle (1200/0).

"Oh joy, an Infernity rush," Tomoko growled as she twirled some hair between two of her fingers. "Next comes all of the synching, right? Or you'll probably bring out a big level eight monster, or two level five monsters to bring out an Xyz monster, right?"

Claire brushed some hair out from her face as she held her hand up in front of her. "Well, you're half-right on both accounts! I synch my Archfiend with one of my Beetles to bring out yet another familiar face!"

The beetle popped into two rings of green light that wrapped around the Infernity Archfiend, transforming the demon into a tall tower of darkness. An ominous tune slipped through the air as the tower scattered away to reveal a second Infernity Desperado with his harmonica raised up to his masked face (2000/0).

"And now, I'll synch once more!" Claire announced as the other Beetle flew around the Desperado, merging the two into a large inky shadow that splattered against the ground. "So, meet another one of my best monsters!"

From the puddle of shadows, a large red and black armored claw shot into the air. Barely even a second passed as another claw slipped from the darkness. The rest of the creature erupted from the ground, being a fully armored dragon with a pair of metallic wings and a number of rubies embedded in the armor. The dragon bellowed, rocking the entire ground around the duelists and watchers (3000/3000). "Void Ogre Dragon!"

"Ahahaha!" Wes laughed loudly as he crossed his arms. "And here it comes!"

"Huh?" Ansel questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Now for something completely different!" Claire announced as she snapped her fingers again, making a powerful vortex appear in the middle of the field, drawing in both of the Necromancers into it. "I open the overlay network! And I'll overlay both of my remaining Infernity monsters…"

After the two monsters were pulled into the vortex, the area around the duelists on the bridge was completely overshadowed for a few moments. In a flash, a mysterious spotlight lit up in front of Claire, drawing everyone's focus to a weird little impish creature dressed in a baggy brown poncho with a matching cowboy hat that had a pair of horns poking out from it. The fuzzy imp had a dual necked guitar that the cute little creature played expertly.

The imp lifted its head up, revealing the rose that was sticking out of its almost invisible mouth (1500/1000). "Play us a tune – Muzurhythm the String Djinn!"

"Uh… I don't know how to respond to that one," Tomoko muttered with a large bead of sweat rolling down the side of her head.

"Then allow me to show case what my guitarist can do!" Claire announced as Muzurhythm began to strum his guitar rapidly. "Attack Fortress Fossil Stego!"

The small impish guitarist leapt up into the air, spinning around as several rose petals from the rose in its mouth flew around its body. That's when Claire pulled a card from underneath Muzurhythm's card on her duel disk, "And now, I can use his ability! By removing one of his Overlay Units, Muzurhythm's attack doubles!"

The String Djinn pointed his guitar towards the large mechanical dinosaur, several large glowing musical notes that zipped through the air (1500/1000 + 1500/0). However, Tomoko pushed a button on her duel disk, creating a large pair of mystical cylinders that had question marks on it. "Nice try! But I won't be letting that happen! I activate Magic Cylinder! So now your attack will be…"

The Void Ogre Dragon roared loudly, shattering both of the cylinders that had the many pieces bounce off of the ground and scatter about. All the while, the glowing musical notes slammed into the Stego's body, the mechanical dinosaur's rusty, painful roars filled out the air before the mechanized creature exploded into millions of pixels. (TLP: 4900)

"Huh?!" Tomoko yelped as she stepped backwards. "What in the world…"

"Looks like someone doesn't know about Void Ogre Dragon's ability," Claire snickered as she wagged a finger. "Since I don't have any cards in my hand, once per turn, I can negate and destroy one of your spells and trap cards!"

Tomoko looked down at her dwindling hand, seeing the last card in her hand was a spell card – Pot of Duality. Normally this spell card would help her out immensely if she had drawn it earlier, but with that Void Ogre Dragon's effect, it was a liability.

Oh yeah, speaking of the Void Ogre Dragon, it was now standing over Tomoko, crimson flames escaping from its sharp, teeth-laden mouth. "… Ya declared an attack, didn't ya?"

"Yup," Claire replied with a bright, innocent smile on her face.

Ansel, Milo and even Wes had to blink in confusion as Claire kept that innocent smile on her face as the Void Ogre Dragon breathed a stream of flames that completely engulfed Tomoko for several seconds. (TLP: 1900)

When the flames finally stopped, Tomoko's clothes had a little bit of holographic smoke wisped from her. "… Not what I expected…"

Tomoko coughed with a small puff of smoke floating out.

Claire snickered, but composed herself when she realized that Tomoko was leering at here, "A-Anyway, I'll end my turn. And since it's the end of my turn, Muzurhythm's attack returns to normal…"

The imp landed in front of Clair and took a bow towards the crowd (1500/1000). "So come on Tomoko! Hit me with your best shot!"

Tomoko smiled slightly as she reached for her deck and turned over the top card on her deck. As she lifted the card up to her face, Tomoko sighed before she crossed her arms. "… I got nuthin'. I end my turn."

Claire blinked a few times as she drew from her deck and immediately shook her head, "Well, at least you didn't give up right on the spot. I appreciate that…"

"What kinda duelist would I be if I didn't at least let the final attack go through?" Tomoko asked with a shrug of her shoulders. "If I just gave up, it would mean that I don't got any respect for ya."

Bad grammar aside, Ansel couldn't help but wince when he heard that, remembering his duel against Koko…

"Good to know!" Claire announced as she snapped her fingers, making the Void Ogre Dragon roar in compliance. "Void Ogre! Be gentle with the final attack!"

For a moment, the Void Ogre Dragon remained still, contemplating on what to do. After a few seconds, the large armored dragon lifted its claw towards Tomoko, with one of its claws pulled back. Tomoko eyed the dragon before it flicked its claw against her forehead, knocking her beanie off, "Ow! What the hell?!" (TLP: 0)

"Well, that's the only way he could be gentle," Claire replied with a shrug of her shoulders as all of the holograms began to disappear. "Or would you prefer the flames again?"

"I'm perfectly fine with the flick to the forehead," Tomoko replied with a sheepish grin on her face.

A loud beep echoed through the air, making both of the girls turn their attention towards the duel gauntlets on their hands – However, only Tomoko's digital counter changed, switching from a two to a one. "Well that sucks…"

"Perhaps, but the duel itself was pure excellence," Wes announced as he stepped next to the two girls, holding up a familiar beanie to Tomoko. "I appreciate this Miss Ryuzaki, more than ya know."

"Meh," Tomoko grunted as she pulled her hat back from Wes and slipped it over her head of hair. "Don't mention it, I may have lost my first duel here, but this'll just get me pumped up for the next one.

"Hopefully you and I can meet up again Claire and duke it out again. Just don't expect me to let ya win next time!"

"Always good to have a challenge," Claire replied.

"And as for you," Tomoko stated as she turned her gaze towards Wes, making the larger duelist step back slightly. "We've got to talk about our little deal to talk about!"

"Uh, right! Right!" Wes chuckled sheepishly with his hands raised up defensively. "Well, how about we take our business elsewhere and…"

Before he could continue, Tomoko gripped onto Wes's right ear and began to drag him away, "Good idea, we can discuss this over a drink – Your treat."

"S-Sounds good to me!" Wes yelped in pain before he waved at Claire. "I'll be seeing you later sis!"

Both Ansel and Claire just blinked in confusion as they watched the two disappear into the crowds. Ansel turned slightly to Claire with a dulled look in his eyes, "… Your brother usually like that?"

"Not really," Claire answered with a shrug. "He's actually rather tame here, since we're part of the group representing our academy. Heck, even the principal had him sign a contract to make sure he wouldn't pull any of his regular stunts."

'_What sort of stunts did the guy pull regularly?'_ Ansel thought to himself.

"Anyway, shouldn't we help your friend out?" Claire asked, drawing Ansel back to reality.

"That won't be necessary…"

Ansel jumped slightly when he realized that Milo was standing right next to him, the ropes now slung over his shoulder. "What the!? How'd you get free!?"

"Ya know that little tidbit I gave earlier?" Milo stated as he spun the ropes in his hands a few times before he tossed them over his shoulder and over the bridge. "Yeah, that was something called a lie."

"Jerk," Claire stated with a roll of her eyes.

"Whatever," Ansel sighed as he began to walk off. "Dunno about you two, but I'm gonna get to Joliant – I got plenty of time to kill, and frankly, I'd like to be able to enjoy this theme park and get my duels outta the way…"

"Very well Ansel," Milo replied with a playful wave. "I think I'll take this time to get to know the lovely Miss Claire…"

With a snap of his wrist, Milo produced a second bouquet of roses that he held up to Claire, "So, what do you say? Care to try to find a fun ride that we can both enjoy?"

"Actually, I think I'll tail your friend Ansel for a while," Claire chuckled as she slowly slipped away from Milo, making the roses in the young magician's hand droop down comically. "Sides, I'm kinda curious why he went all out of character when he saw that card that Tomoko played…"

Claire followed Ansel, a small smirk on her face, '_Besides, I'd like to be able to learn a little bit of the competition – And I have to say, I'm a little curious about this guy, I pegged him as an all serious guy, but he just went nuts when he saw that 'rare' card._

'_If anything, it'll just be humorous to be around him.'_

Milo sighed loudly before he sulked after the two, "Wait for me…"

**TTTTTT**

Volk was another part of Cress Paradise, unlike Joliant and Breezegale was a more interactive portion of the large amusement park. Go-kart racing, laser tag, arcades and other games that the general populace could enjoy in its rather unique design, designed to resemble that of an industrial park filled with factory-like buildings that had colorful designs.

However, while the trio was getting on their way to Joliant, in Volk, the skies seemed to darken around the area with a large shadow in the shape of a large, clunky titan looming over the top of one of the buildings. Atop of said building stood two figures, one of which held its arm up towards the large shadow overhead. "Well, I wish it was fun, but it wasn't…

"FINISH HIM!"

The large titan drew back one of its fists and immediately slammed it into the opposing duelist, creating a strong boom that echoed through the air, making the opposing duelist fall on his back.

The one controlling the shadowed titan lowered his arm and immediately pushed up his glasses in annoyance, "Now this is just pathetic – When I came to this tournament, I was expecting a challenge of sorts. I got my two wins already and both duels were borrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnng as heeeeeeelllllllllllllll!"

"Kikikikiki!"

The glasses wearing duelist turned around, seeing a rather curious figure standing behind him. The figure was tall and lean, dressed in a long baggy overcoat with a crooked top hat. "Bored are we? Well, I can fix that for ya…"

The glasses wearing duelist sighed and shook his head, "Well now, I didn't expect to see the Mad Hatter here."

"M-Mad Hatter?!" the top hatted man gasped as he jumped back slightly.

"I'm not interested," The glasses man So far the duels here are just a pain in my ass and are so boring that it's like I got a drill in the back of my head. The duelists here are pathetic too, and just so bland… Bleh, I should've just stayed back in the underground…"

"Oh, but that's why I'm here," the top hatted figure snickered as he sauntered over to the glasses wearing duelist. "I'm not here to duel you, rather, I'm here to tell you of a very potent duelist… One who could rival you in terms of strategy and prowess.

"You see, my spectacled friend this duelist purposely lost his first duel and challenged an eliminator just to prove his strength…"

The glasses wearing man rubbed his chin, "He came back from the brink of destruction? Hmm… Intriguing, but still, what's stopping me from just ignoring him? I've already got my two wins in already, so I don't have to stick out my neck out for this."

"Then how about this?" the top hatted man cackled as he lifted one of his arms up, revealing a small silver case. "I saw that monster of yours, and I have to say, it's a very unique monster… Too bad you don't have the other two to complete the set…"

With a large grin on his face, the top hatted man turned the case around and opened it, revealing a pair of black bordered cards in it. The glasses on the duelist's face practically lit up as he slowly stepped closer to the top hatted man, "It… It can't be! Do you know how long it took me to find the first one?!"

Slowly, he brought his hand towards the case, but before he could even brush his fingers against the cards, the case snapped shut. "Uh, uh, uh! I can't let you do that! If ya want these bad boys, then all ya gotta do is duel against the guy I want ya to."

The glasses adorned man tilted his head slightly. "How do I know you'll keep your word on that? Not every day that a guy in an overcoat and top hat offers me cards that I'm looking for."

"Simple really," The top hatted man cackled as he opened the case once more and pulled out one of the cards. "I'll give you one of these bad boys as an installment plan. After the duel, you'll get the other one."

Snapping the case shut, the top hatted man held the card up, but along with the card was a photo. "The guy I want ya to face off against is headed towards Joliant, and here's a picture of the guy."

The spectacle wearing man tilted his head slightly, "I doubt I'd miss the guy – Orange hair isn't exactly commonplace."

"Neither is this guy," the top hatted man replied as he tossed the card and picture to the glasses wearing man. "He should be more than enough to satisfy your interest…"

"Heh, I'll be sure to hold you to your half of the deal then… Now, what's this soon to be loser's name?"

"Name? Well, he goes by the title of Ansel Reaves…"

TBC

**TTTTTT**

**Card Stats**

**Infernity Dancer / Dark / LV. 2 / ATK: 300 / DEF: 800 / Fiend/Effect:** When this card is successfully summoned, you may send up to two cards from your hand to the graveyard. During your main phase, if you have no cards in your hand, you may send this card to the graveyard to select and special summon one level 3 or lower 'Infernity' monster from your deck (A monster special summoned with this effect cannot attack or be used in a Synchro summon).**  
Description:** a beautiful young woman dressed in ragged red and black ceremonial clothing with baggy pants that had slits on the sides to show off her slim legs and a top that was adorned with various dragon skulls around her neck, shoulder and even had a pair of skulls in her long black hair that created a pair of tails for her

**Infernity Desperado / Dark / LV. 6 / ATK: 2000 / DEF: 0 / Fiend/Synchro/Effect:** [1 DARK Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuner Monsters] This card can only be special summoned by Synchro Summon. Once per turn, you may send one card from your hand to the graveyard. While you have no cards in your hand, when this card battles a Synchro, Ritual, or Xyz monster, during the damage step only, increase this card's ATK by half of the ATK of the opposing monster.**  
Description:** a sleek shadowed figured dressed in a brown, ragged poncho with western clothes underneath it. The monster appeared to be male, but that was only due to its figure. Around the monster's waist and legs were several belts that had ammo strapped to them, and the monster had a ragged ten gallon hat that topped its head of long silver hair. The monster's hands were brought up to its face where the creature's face was covered with a skull-like mask that covered the top half of its face while the creature played a harmonica with both of its hands

**Handless Combo / Continuous Trap / Effect:** This card cannot be activated unless you have no cards in your hand. If you have two or more cards in your hand during your end phase, destroy this card. Once per turn, while you have no cards in your hand, you may select one of the following effects:  
-) By paying 800 Life points, select one level four or lower DARK monster from your graveyard and add it to your hand.  
-) By removing one card from your graveyard, you may select one card on the field and return it to the bottom of its owner's deck.**  
Image:** a dark coated duelist slamming several powerful kicks into floating down duel monster cards

**Flint Rock Raptor / Fire / LV. 2 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 1000 / Dinosaur/Effect:** When this card is destroyed by your opponent's card (either through battle or by card effect), you may add one Level 3 or lower FIRE monster from your deck to your hand.**  
Description:** a small raptor that looked to be made out of flint rocks

**Molten Jurassic Egg / Continuous Trap / Effect:** Each time a FIRE Dinosaur-Type monster is special summoned, place 2 'Molten Counters' on this card for each monster summoned. During your main phase, by removing this card from your side of the field, you may add one FIRE Dinosaur from your deck with a level equal to or lower than the number of "Molten Counters" that were on this card.**  
Image:** a large geyser of magma that formed into a large, stone egg that had lava popping from its form

**Electric Fence Break / Counter Trap / Effect:** This card can only be activated when your opponent targets a Dinosaur-Type monster on your side of the field either for a card effect or for an attack. Return the selected monster back to your hand, then special summon one level four or lower Dinosaur monster from your hand. The monster special summoned with this effect is then the target for the spell, trap or attack.**  
Image:** a large black scaled Tyrannosaurus Rex that was breaking through a rather peculiar electric fence

**Fortress Fossil Stego / Fire / LV. 8 / ATK: 1200 / DEF: 2800 / Dinosaur/Effect:** This card cannot be special summoned from the graveyard. For each 'Fortress Fossil Stego' in your graveyard, this card gains 800 ATK. When this card is removed from the field (either through battle or by card effect), by removing one FIRE monster from your graveyard, you may special summon one 'Fortress Fossil Stego' from your hand or deck. **  
Description:** a very large stegosaurus, at least, it looked like a stegosaurus. Its main body was covered with red and silver armor with a large fortress built into its back that had a number of cannons mounted on its back

**TTTTTTT**

_**Who is this mysterious 'mad hatter'?**_

_**Who is this mysterious glasses wearing man?**_

_**And why is he being sent to hunt down Ansel?**_

_**And why am I asking questions you probably already know?**_

_**I DON'T KNOW!**_

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Strings**_


	6. Chapter 5: Strings

_**Wow, feels like almost half a year since I've been here, and I gotta tell ya, it's only because of the fact that I'm surrounded by freaky people – All in the span of a couple hours! **_

_**First there was Ao, that guy who was shirtless who didn't understand the term 'personal space', and it was because of him that I was left with a disadvantage in this tournament. I will say he was a nice guy at some points; at least he didn't put me down during the duel. Even if the duel hurt like a damn wasp nest being stuffed down your pants.**_

_**Then there was Koko, she… Well, she just was crazy.**_

_**Milo and Claire… Well, I can say at the very least Milo's entertaining, and Claire seems to be the only person around here who I can have a half-way decent conversation with… But something just seems off about her… I can't really put my finger on it. It must be her crazy brother or the fact that Milo seems to have developed love at first sight with her.**_

_**Then there's this guy. He's just… Well, he's just plain insane! I don't know what this guy's deal is! I think he might be bi-polar or he might just be crazy. He's cackling and acting like a clichéd Saturday Morning cartoon villain, and I think he might be spreading the crazy around.**_

_**Then again, I was already seeing people going insane around here. Who knows, maybe I'll be going insane next…**_

_**Although, if you ask some people, I'm already there.**_

**TTTTTTTTT**

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Strings**_

**TTTTTT**

Joliant, the most joyful place in all of Cress Paradise, with its bright colors, cheerful upbeat music filling the air, and the cries of joy from countless little kids who ran around the park with their parents' chasing after them. As far as the eye could see were a number of various rides and roller coasters that were filled to the brim with patrons.

Lined on either side of the cement sidewalk were countless games that had a number of plush toys that dangled from the walls and ceiling – Most of them duel monster themed, with a couple of them looking like the famous Dark Magician Girl, the infamous Gagaga Girl, and several of the cuter monsters.

CLINK!

"DAMN IT!"

Currently, our three heroes were standing at the milk bottle stand.

"Wow, how long has he been at this now?" Claire asked as she crossed her arms.

CLINK!

"SONVA-!"

"Oh, about an hour or so," Milo chuckled, his fingers running along the rim of his hat. "But, you gotta admit, he's kinda tenacious."

"Or hardheaded," Claire added with the young magician nodding his head.

"Hey! You two were the ones who suggested I do this!" Ansel snapped as he gripped the baseball in his hand. "I wasn't the one who wanted a cheap plush toy, these things break if you hug these dam things – My little sister has me win these things all the time, and then she gets on my case when they break in her arms."

Taking a moment to aim, Ansel tossed the baseball at the stacked milk bottles. The ball struck the stack of metallic bottles right in the center of the stacked tower, and with a loud clank…

The ball just bounced off of the bottles and onto the ground a few times. Ansel looked at the ball for a few moments before he grabbed his orange hair, pulled it slightly and yelled loudly. "DAMN IT ALL!

"The game's fixed! The bottles are glued together and…"

"Huh, I guess you don't have good upper body strength," Claire stated as she walked alongside Ansel's breakdown. There was one baseball left on the counter and the young student tossed the baseball up and down a few times.

With one eye closed, Claire threw the baseball and it smacked right in the center of the pile, sending all of the metallic milk bottles through the air until they clacked on the ground a few times.

Ansel's eyes widened as he watched Claire lift her arms up to receive a large red fox plush doll, with feathery flames for a tail. "Aw, it's an Inari Fire doll!"

"… It just burns, doesn't it?" Milo chuckled as he twirled his hat around on his finger a few times. "How much are you out?"

Ansel didn't reply.

"Ooh, that bad?" Milo muttered with a roll of his eyes. "Oh well, that's how these things work sometimes."

"If it makes you feel better," Claire stated as she held the plush Inari Fire doll to Ansel. "You did pay for the chance, so you can have it."

"Nah, it was just a chance to kill some time," Ansel replied as he lifted his arm up to look at his watch. "So far, it's only four thirty – Got about seven hours till midnight…"

"So, what should we do to kill some time?" Milo questioned with a shrug of his shoulders. "We've got quite a selection here – roller coasters, cotton candy, perhaps maybe…"

Milo slipped up next to Claire and threw his arm around her shoulders, "The tunnel of love?"

"I didn't think that there was one here," Claire sighed as she dipped from Milo's arm, making the magician tumble over himself. "But I think we've got a little bit more of a pressing issue…"

"Huh?" Ansel questioned with his head tilted slightly.

"We're kinda on a time limit here," Claire explained as she lifted up her duelist glove. "Milo and I need to get in one more duel in before midnight, and I don't know about you Ansel. Do you need two duels?"

"Uh… I think I do…" Ansel muttered as he lifted up his gloved hand. Ever since Koko had reset his D-Counter on his glove, he didn't know if he had to duel twice more in order to qualify…Or if he had to duel once more. And a scary thought just slipped into his head. '_What if she added a few other features to this little thing? If only I had actually brought my laptop here, maybe I could look this thing through, but I'd be kicked out if I did…_

'_Although, if Koko was able to get through this without even breaking a sweat, maybe I could too…'_

Meanwhile…

Several yards away, seated at an outside gazebo, a young girl with creamy white skin watched the group through a pair of binoculars. The girl in question was rather weird looking – Her long hair was pulled back into a pair of long tails, with the left side of her hair a dark, midnight black while the right side of her hair was as pure as snow white. Over her petite figure, the girl was dressed in a jacket that was also in two colors, both white and black, that were on the same sides of her hair. The sleeves of the jacket seemed to be way too long for her arms since they themselves were wrapped around the binoculars.

"Hmm, nyan, targets in sight," The young girl hummed to herself as she lowered the binoculars. "Got here earlier than I expected, nyan. The two duelists that I pulled won't be here for another hour or so… So, I'll just have to have some fun myself. Oooh! I could go for a strawberry sundae!

"I haven't had one of those in a long time, nyan!"

"Kikikiki, I didn't know that ten minutes qualified as a long time."

The young girl's eyes widened as she spun around, seeing the same top hatted individual who appeared atop the roofs of Volk, his matching velvet overcoat billowing with each step that he took, as well as the blue and red scarf also sweeping with his steps. "Aww… What's the matter, little Pawn? I thought you'd be happy to see me visit you."

"Rookie?! You can't be here, this is…" Pawn hissed as she waved her arms up through the air a few times.

"Against the rules?" Rookie cackled as he sauntered up to the table until he spun around and sat at the table. "Sorry little munchkin, but we were told that we couldn't attack the sniveling little bloke directly while we were in other people's areas. Unfortunately for you, I'm not doing anything of the sort. I just came here to get a soda and maybe some ice cream – Cause unlike you, I don't get to stuff myself with sugary treats in order to function."

"Yeah, you prefer getting drunk off your butt," Pawn retorted as she crossed her sleeves over her small chest.

"I prefer the term 'shit-faced'," Rookie cackled with his hands lifted up. "Just be glad that I can't have my swig with me while it's still daytime. Anyway, you little punk, I just came here to see how you're going to deal with this slightly less little punk – And here I catch you about to pig out."

"Humph! You got quite the ego, Rookie," Pawn growled with a roll of her golden eyes. "And a mouth too."

"Hey, I'm actually being tame with my mouth," Rookie cackled with a wave of his hand. "But, alas, we've got a show on our hands… I actually did something awesome."

"What the?" Pawn snarled as she slammed her hands onto the table. "Rookie! Did you send one of your duelists to…"

"Nope," Rookie chuckled with a lick of his lips. "None of my guys are in Joliant, just lil old me. No need to crap yourself on this matter. I'm just talking about that guy over there."

Rookie pointed back to where the group was discussing what they needed to do, there was a single individual who stood from the rest of the walking crowds. The character was too far away to get any details about his appearance, but it was clear that the character was looking at the group.

"I can tell from here," Rookie snickered loudly with his hand brought up to his curled mouth. "He's got a bit of bloodlust to him, kikikiki!"

"Rookie, what in the world did you do?" Pawn questioned.

Rookie didn't say a word as he leaned on the table, his face sporting a Cheshire Cat smirk.

**TTTTTTTT**

Minutes later, in the center square of Joliant, the trio of duelists found themselves staring up at the tall, tower – the center itself was rather colorful with a number of people watching the performers juggling torches, dancing to the colorful music, and clowns handing out balloons to kids.

"Man, I am not a fan of clowns," Milo shuddered with his arms crossed over his chest.

"And yet, in the last hour that I've known you," Ansel sighed with a roll of his eyes. "You seem to act like one. I mean you're a magician, don't you guys usually work in the same place as clowns? Circuses, birthday parties, low grade entertainment clubs?"

"Wow, that was kinda low," Claire muttered as she shifted the plush fox to be under one of her arms. "Then again, I've only seen him pull flowers out from his sleeves and that quarter pulling trick from people's ears."

"Ouch, that hurts," Milo moaned with his hat drooping slightly. "But to answer your question, while that's true, I like to think I'm higher on the entertainment chain than some harlequin… At least I don't go around smacking pies into peoples' faces."

"I didn't think clowns still did that," a rather sharp voice coughed behind the trio.

All three slowly turned around to see another young man pushing up his rather thick glasses (so thick that you couldn't even see his eyes) right behind them. He was dressed in rather strange clothes, a baggy button down shirt that reached down his brown pants (which were rather short to reveal his black socks and skinny legs). Wrapped around his shoulders was a long jacket that had the sleeves tied at the right shoulder while the rest of it was draped over his left shoulder.

The weirdest part was that the young man had bushy white hair that wildly flowed from his black cap – White hair, not really the most casual of hair colors, then again, with Ansel's orange hair, white hair isn't that strange.

'_Why do I feel like I've been insulted somehow,'_ Ansel thought to himself with a roll of his eyes.

"Seriously, when was the last time you saw a clown throw a pie?" the white hair youth questioned as he walked around the trio of duelists. "At least not in popular media – We've seen clowns with rocket launchers, asking why we're being so serious, and breaking the mold on what we perceive on sanity and common sense."

"Gee, a Joker fascination," Ansel stated as the white haired youth stopped in front of the bell tower. "Haven't seen that before, and you certainly look the part to be in the fandom."

"Why thank you very much," the white haired youth bowed slightly towards Ansel's group. "Sarcasm aside, I'll accept that as a compliment you Annoying Orange knock off."

"What?!" Ansel snarled.

"But enough quips," The white haired youth chuckled as he stood up straight, holding up a trio of business cards in his right hand before he tossed the cards towards Ansel, Claire and Milo. All three of them caught the cards in their hands. "My cards!"

Ansel looked at the card he had in his hand, and raised an eyebrow at the card. The card itself had a small, oddly cute version of the white haired youth in the corner of the card with a wicked smile, while the pitch black lettering on it read:

_**Adrian Faust  
Voice Actor, Official Gym Leader  
And  
King of the Duelist Underworld**_

"What is up with these titles?" Ansel questioned as he tossed the card over his shoulder.

"Don't worry about the titles," the white haired youth chuckled as he shrugged. "What you should be worried about is the fact that my name is Faust, a proper name that I was granted."

"Gym Leader, eh?" Milo chuckled as he shuffled next to Faust. With a slip of the wrist, Milo pulled out a Nintendo 3DS, covered with stickers of top hats and a large pink heart on the middle of it. "I don't suppose you mind taking me on in a six-on-six match up?"

"Oh, I'm flattered!" Faust laughed as he lifted his arms up to his sides. "But unfortunately, I'm not here to fling Pokeballs right now. I was invited for this tournament for my third title."

"The King of the Duelist Underworld," Claire stated before she slipped the business card into her pocket. "Well, I've never heard of you."

"I wouldn't expect you to," Faust replied as he pointed a finger at Claire. "I often spend my time to make sure that people can't recognize me for that title unless I want them to. I even have a second business card that has a different name for it… But, enough about little, ole me.

"I first have to apologize for my eavesdropping, but I had to immerse myself into your conversation somehow. Just walking up to people who are quiet is such an awkward scene."

"Yeah, but it's a little rude," Claire pointed out.

"True, oh so true," Faust sighed with a shrug of his shoulders. "But then again, we've got other business to attend to – You see, this is a duelist tournament, I'm a duelist, and looking at those fancy large wristwatches on your arms, I can assume that you're duelists as well. So, I think that what I want is rather obvious.

"I. Want. To. Duel!"

Ansel rolled his eyes as he took a step back, "Well, Milo, Claire, you guys were looking for your second duel for the day, so go ahead and…"

"Sorry, Orange, but you're the guy who I wanna face off against!" Faust stated as he lifted up his left arm, showing off his black duel disk.

"What?! Why?!" Ansel yelped as he jumped back.

"Honestly?" Faust replied with his arms crossed. "I was just trying to immerse myself into your conversation and you had to insult me. Normally, if you were a regular person, I would've just shrugged this off… But you're a duelist, Orange. I can tell that you have a rather reactive duelist spirit under that eyesore you call hair.

"Call it trash talk, call it pride, or call it… I just wanna knock you down into the duelist graveyard!"

Ansel gulped slightly as he looked at his duelist glove – once again, he didn't know what Koko did to his glove. For all he knew, if he didn't accept a duelist's challenge, he might lose both of his duelist points.

Then there was this fruitcake himself, judging from experience he had so far with the tournament, even if Ansel would refuse this character, more than likely, this white haired freak would probably stalk him for the rest of the tournament. And with a personality and appearance that Faust was wearing, stalker would fit well on the rest of the business card that Ansel tossed over his shoulder.

So with a defeated sigh, Ansel lifted his hands up, "Fine… I'll duel…"

"Good," Faust chuckled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Good thing you didn't make me angry, there are a lot of things that make me angry. Let's face it, there are a lot of horrible things in this world… But duel monsters aren't one of those things."

"What are you going on about?" Ansel questioned as he activated his duel disk as everyone around the two duelists stepped back.

"Oh, we'll get to that," Faust laughed loudly as he revealed a deck of cards in his left hand. "But we'll get to that when we get a little further into the duel. But let me tell you something – Lightsworn, Geargia, X-Sabers, and many others… If you run any of these cards against this deck, I can guarantee that you'll lose."

'_Good thing I don't use those cards…'_ Ansel thought as he smiled. '_Most of those cards are in my card binder.'_

"So, what does Ansel run?" Claire asked as she and Milo took a seat on a bench nearby as both Ansel and Faust slipped their decks into their duel disk.

"Dunno," Milo answered with a shrug, leaning a little closer to Claire than she would've cared for. "All I've seen is the binder that he carries around, quite a number of rare cards in it. Hell, I even spied a few cards in that binder that would make a few of my cards disappear in it, and I wager he'd have some for you as well, my lovely angel."

"Yeah well… Wait, what did you call me?" Claire questioned.

"Oh, uh, h-hey! They're starting!" Milo pointed out with a nervous laugh following.

"DUEL!"

"Do you seriously have to yell?" Ansel questioned as he slowly drew from the top of his deck. (ALP: 8000)

"Aw, you don't have the class of a duelist," Faust sighed with a roll of his eyes. "It's tradition of duelists!" (FLP: 8000)

"Oh yes, yelling makes everything better," Ansel retorted with a flat look in his eyes. "So, who goes first?"

"You're gonna need all the help you can get to face against the King of the Underworld," Faust replied with wave of his hand. "So, you can choose to go first or second, doesn't matter to me."

"Then, I'll go first!" Ansel announced before he drew a sixth card from his deck. Looking at the card, the collector nodded before he gently placed a card onto his duel disk, allowing the holographic card back to materialize in front of him. "One set monster, and I guess I'll set a spell or trap card face down.

"Turn end."

Faust grimaced at the move, his mouth curling into a scowl, '_Well, that's no fun. That Mad Hatter said this guy was an exceptional duelist – Someone who could appease my duelist bloodlust…_

'_Hmm, maybe I should try to entice him – Draw him out into trying to even scratch me…'_

"Well then, I'll go for the gold and draw myself!" Faust yelled as he spun off the top card from his deck. Nodding to himself, Faust turned around another card from his hand. "Well then, if you're not gonna go big, then I shall! I activate the spell card – Trade In!

"Now, by tossing a level eight monster from my hand, like say, oh, I don't know, this one right here!"

Faust quickly turned around another card from his hand, revealing a rather creepy looking monster that was a gothic doll covered with bandages, rising up from a coffin. Ansel blinked at the card, noting that the card did have eight stars to it, but the gaze didn't last until Faust slipped the card into his duel disk's graveyard slot. "And in return, I can pull two more cards from my deck."

With his hand refreshed, Faust tucked the two cards with the rest of his cards. "Now let's see… Hmm, this isn't my best opening hand, almost borderline of being my worst. Almost all of the monsters here are useless."

Faust then lifted up one of the cards over his head, "Oh well, I guess I'll have to play this card in…"

However, before Faust could finish, the card slipped from his hand and landed on his duel disk, and a rather crude, and unfinished holographic monster appeared before Faust (0/1000). Faust yelped as he quickly scooped up the card, a grimace on his face, "Uh, oops! Hehehe, s-sorry about that, the card slipped from my hand."

The hologram disappeared as Faust quickly fixed the card, making a face down monster card appear before him. "J-Just pretend you didn't see that."

"Uh, okay," Ansel muttered with a roll of his eyes. '_… Looking at this guy, and how he acts – He's probably full of hot air. I'm learning that a lot of people around here are like that.'_

"Huh," Claire stated, holding the plush fox closer to her. "That's weird."

"What do you mean?" Milo questioned, taking his top-hat off from his head, placing it on his lap and reached into it. "The guy just slipped up slightly. Happens all the time."

"Oh come on, are you really that blind?" Claire shot back with a blood vessel appearing on the side of her head.

"Nope, twenty-twenty vision right here," Milo replied as he pulled bottle of icy Pepsi cola from his top hat. "Ah, nothing like a cold drink on a hot day."

"… How in the world…?" Claire questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Stick with me, madam," Milo chuckled as he opened the bottle. "I'll show you every little trick I've got hidden in my hat."

All the while, Faust watched the conversation between the magician and duel academy student. That was when he turned towards Ansel, "You certainly have an interesting taste in friends."

Ansel just sighed.

"In any case, I don't have anything else in this hand of mine to play," Faust moaned as he shuffled his feet nervously. "So, I'll just end my turn."

'_I have no idea what kind of monster he just played,'_ Ansel pondered as he pulled out another card from his deck. '_But I saw the stats. I may have to try something different… And luckily I think I don't have to deal with that monster.'_

Ansel spun around the card he just drew and held it in front of him, "I'll start with the effect of a monster in my hand, Blue Baboon, Mender of the Forest!"

A loud cry echoed through the air as a large blue furred baboon crashed into the ground behind Ansel, armed with what appeared to be several leafs that were smeared with honey. "This rare card has a very special ability, by discarding this beast, I can take a field spell card from my deck…

"Any Field spell card that has the word 'Forest' in its name… And let me tell ya, there are a ton of those!"

The Blue Baboon roared loudly as it faded away, and another card shot out from Ansel's deck and into his hand. "I'll take Silver Woods, which thanks to its first effect is considered to have Forest in its name… But I'll wait to play it, cause now I'm flipping up my face down card, Nyanto, the Traveler of the Forest!"

The face down card popped into several leafs, revealing the cartoonish Lynx who devilishly smirked at Faust (500/600).

For a moment, there was silence.

"What?" Ansel questioned as Nyanto shrugged his shoulders.

"That's… Rather unexpected," Claire admitted.

"I was kinda expecting a real powerhouse from ya," Milo chimed in.

Faust was rather quiet as well, his brow narrowing behind his glasses, '_… You have got to be kidding me! This guy is supposed to be that huge challenge I was told about?! I'm gonna kick that Mad Hatter's ass after he gives me that card!'_

"Now I'll activate the card I pulled earlier!" Ansel announced as he lifted his duel disk up. "I activate Silver Woods!"

The ground began to shake as several trees erupted from the ground around the two duelists, all of the trees decorated with silver leafs that glistened in the sunlight. Nyanto jumped up and down a few times before he leapt into the air, turning his body around until he slammed his tail into the face down monster on Faust's field, immediately shattering the card into millions of pixels that flew into the woods. "And then there's Nyanto's special ability! Whenever a field card is activated, one card on your field gets destroyed!

"And next, I'll summon Tora, Musician of the Forest!"

After Ansel slipped the card onto his duel disk, a charming song filtered through the air. The music seemed to have an effect on Nyanto, making the lynx dance about the field as several silver leafs floated around the dueling field. Through the silver leafs, another cartoonish beast appeared on the field, this one a small tiger standing on its hind legs dressed in a green tunic with a wooden ocarina (700/200) held up to his mouth. The small tiger danced along with Nyanto around the field.

Faust pushed up his glasses before he threw his arms behind his head. "… Gee, I wonder what that card is based off of."

"Just be glad there isn't a little ball of light that says 'Hey Listen!'" Faust replied as he snapped his fingers. "In any case, I activate Tora's effect. I can use his ability to increase the level of a face up monster on the field by one… So, I'll have him use that effect on Nyanto!"

Tora stopped dancing, and began to play a much smoother song from his ocarina, making Nyanto stand still with his tail whipping about until two stars appeared over his head. Then a third star appeared over his head, making the small lynx jump in joy. "And to make things interesting… Tora's a tuner monster!"

Both of the forest monsters leapt up into the air, with Tora popping into three glowing stars. The stars flew around Nyanto, transforming him into a powerful tower of light that crashed into the ground. For a few seconds after the light disappeared, the ground shook until the pavement in front of Ansel shattered open to unleash a long, serpentine dragon covered with bark like armor and long jagged hair.

The dragon roared loudly, shaking the ground once more (2500/1800).

Claire and Milo blinked a few times at the dragon that floated over the holographic forest. Milo lowered his drink and whistled, "Nice, Naturia Barkion, I guess Ansel does have a few gems hidden in that deck of his."

"I dunno, I think his monsters are cool," Claire stated as Barkion drew in a mighty breath.

"I guess I'll attack you directly," Ansel sighed as the large dragon opened its maw and unleash a mass of green flames that flew towards Faust.

As the flames crashed into Faust, he just stood there and took the attack – The flames washed over his entire body and onto the concrete. Without a sound, without a bat of his eye, without any trace of fear, Faust stood in place as the flames slowly disappeared. "…" (FLP: 5500)

"Everybody gets one," Faust stated as he pushed up his glasses. "Any chance you're finished here?"

"Uh, yeah," Ansel replied as he crossed his arms. '_I would've thought he'd be all for acting a little over the top with taking attacks. He certainly seems to play the part.'_

Faust drew his next card, slowly lifted the card up to his glasses, and a small smirk slipped onto his face. Tossing the card into his hand, Faust lifted a hand up towards Ansel, "Now then… Let's see what I can do to make this duel a lot more exciting… Oh wait, I know exactly what I can do! I activate the effect of a monster in my graveyard!"

Two cards slipped out from Faust's graveyard, and the white haired duelist revealed that they were both of the only monsters that he used so far in this duel. "Oh, if only dealing with people were as easy as this – To remove from play one of its own kind to summon it…

"Arise my nightmare!"

The ground pulled back in front of Faust, allowing a small rotted coffin to rise up to the field. The coffin slowly creaked open, and from the opened coffin, a small creepy doll sat up, its gothic dress ripped and torn, its messy blonde hair a mess, and its cracked and broken body covered with several bandages. The doll lifted its head up and screeched loudly (0/0).

Ansel stepped back from the sight of the creepy doll, "What… What is that thing?"

"Oh, where are my manners? This is Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll, such a sad little creature…"

"That's… Rather nightmarish," Ansel admitted as he turned his attention away from the broken doll.

"Exactly! It's EVIL!" Faust laughed loudly as he lifted his arms up into the air, holding his hand of cards over his head. "This is the stuff made of nightmares, my foe! It's not things that creep in the dark that can send chills down your spine, it's the things that you once trusted that are truly scary, my foe – Take for example my little doll right here, once a pure child's toy of pure innocence it is now a creature that seeks EVIL revenge on those who broke her and tossed her into the trash…

"But, enough of the tame stuff, it's time for us to get serious here on this duel. I activate the EVIL spell card – Hammer 'N the Nail!"

From the sky, a large rusty nail crashed into the face down card on Ansel's field, piercing it. However, before Ansel could get a word in, Faust leapt into the air and slammed a giant wooden mallet into nail, forcing it and the card into the ground.

Faust walked back to his side of the field as the card, nail and hammer shattered into pixels. "This little number allows me to destroy one spell or trap card on the field. And before you get on my case that I could just use Mystical Space Typhoon, I run the EVIL card, but thanks to this little number, if I have a Gimmick Puppet out on my field, I can shuffle this card back into my deck so it can see the light of day again.

"And unlike Bait Doll, this card doesn't need to target face down cards... And with your trap now gone, I think I'll have some real good fun! Since I've clearly established that I have a Gimmick Doll out on the field, I can use the effect of another Gimmick Doll in my hand – So, come on out Magne Doll!"

An orb of darkness popped next to the Dreary Doll, and slowly it compressed into a simple, yet ugly looking doll with a segmented body, looking more like the model of a puppet than the actually toy itself. The Doll fell to the ground lifelessly (1000/1000) with a loud clank.

Faust then clasped his hands in front of his face, with a few sparkles flying around his body, "Now, you may be wondering 'Oh Faust, you handsome EVIL devil, just what are you planning here?'"

'_Check the ego on this guy,'_ Ansel thought to himself with a roll of his eyes. '_I bet he thinks he's a god among men…'_

"Well, there's no need for you two worry!" Faust laughed as he snapped his fingers, making both the cursed dolls stand up straight. "You see, both dolls are level eight, and what can you do with two monsters that have the same level?

"I can build the overlay network!"

Both of the dark dolls transformed into a pair of purple streams of light that circled the air around while a dark vortex emerged from the ground in front of Faust. All the while, Faust lifted his hands up into the air, "Not a speck of light is showing, so the danger must be growing. Are the fires of hell a glowing? Is the grisly reaper mowing?

"YES! The danger must be growing, for the rowers keep on rowing, And they're certainly not showing, any signs that they are SLOWING! WhAHAhAhAhAhAA!"

The two streams of darkness flowed into the vortex in front of Faust, immediately spouted out a powerful tower of black energy that flew into the sky over Joliant. The clouds above grew and became darker by the second until the sunlight was completely blocked out with stormy clouds that sparked with lighting and sounded with thunder.

Ansel blinked a few times as he took a step backwards, "What the hell is going on?"

Claire and Milo stood up from the bench as several serpentine shadows flew through the clouds just as a sea-serpent would swim through the seas, its shadow covered body coiling through the sky. Claire's eyes widened as the creature from above lowered its body down from the skies above. "N-No way… T-That's not possible!"

"What is it?" Milo questioned with his head tilted. "I've seen monsters with dramatic entrances before. What's so different about this one?"

"Because… I don't know how, but what we're lookin' at is…" Claire stated as she hugged the plush fox closer to her body.

"A god," Ansel gulped loudly as he legs shook. "B-But how in the world did you… It can't be summoned like that, and it can't be even possible to have that card!"

"Well duh!" Faust spat out as the shadowed serpent began to lower itself over the white haired duelist, it's odd two mouthed head leering down at Ansel with golden eyes. "Of course it's not a god, I may be an EVIL genius, but even I can't gather a trio of cards that are lost to the world. But, still, what you see is true! A falsehood brought to life, due to the mad minds of I2!"

The shadows around the creature pulled back to reveal an almost eternally long, red scaled dragon with a black underbelly. The dragon's body was segmented into countless portions that were held up with numerous black strings while two small arms and two wings dangled off of the beast's body (0/0). Two orbs of light floated around the dragon's jeweled head. "A mere shadow of the Sky Dragon – Gimmick Puppet – Jourmong!"

Ansel's eyes widened, his legs began to shake while he slowly lowered his head, his hair immediately covering his eyes.

"Yes, tremble before the might of my false god!" Faust laughed as he lifted up his hand of four cards. "Like his true god blood counterpart, Jourmong gains one thousand attack points for each card in my hand! And I've got four of the bad boys right here!"

Jourmong bellowed loudly as energy flowed through its wooden body (0/0 + 4000/4000). Faust cackled as he pushed up his glasses, "Just be glad that if I use any other cards in my hand, I can't replenish them. I can't draw cards from my deck during my draw phase so long as Jourmong is out on the field. But four thousand attack points ain't bad at all!"

"Damn," Milo sputtered as he pulled his top hat over his head.

"Ansel's shaking," Claire muttered.

"Aw… Do you have something to say, Orange?" Faust asked as he lifted his hand to one of his ears.

"Why?"

"Oh? You're gonna have to speak up," Faust cackled with a diabolic smirk on his face.

"Why… in the world would I2 make something like that?!" Ansel questioned as a smile appeared on his face, an almost drunken smile, but still a smile. "And… And where can I get a copy?! Oooh! Or better yet, would ya like to do a little trading!?"

Even Faust was a little taken back when Ansel lifted his face up to show not a look of utter fear or terror, but rather a look that you would find on a creepy fan-girl meeting the teen hunk of the month all alone. "W-What?! You're supposed to be afraid!"

"How can I be afraid?" Ansel laughed loudly as he licked his chops. "That card… That card, I gotta have it! It would be a crowning achievement for my collection! I can tell from this distance that a monster like that is almost one of a kind!"

Pushing up his glasses, Faust cleared his throat. There was only one thing he could do at the moment to get on with the duel, "Jourmong, attack his dragon."

Jourmong opened its lower mouth, and unleashed a powerful burst of yellow electrical energy that crashed into Naturia Barkion's body, vaporizing the earthly dragon within a matter of seconds. The remaining discharge flew into Ansel's body, knocking him out of his rare card induced stupor and onto the ground. "OW!" (ALP: 6500)

"Ah, that's better!" Faust cackled as he wagged a single card. "That obsessive look should belong to me and only me!"

As Ansel stood back up, he coughed and made sure that his cards were alright. '_… I'm rather surprised… That didn't hurt me as bad as I thought it would. Is it only against certain opponents? Claire didn't seem to feel any pain during her duel. Milo on the other hand did during his duel…_

'_So that means… Aw, who the hell am I kidding? I don't know what the hell is going on.'_

"If you're done with the voices in your head," Faust announced as he slipped a card into his duel disk, making Jourmong snarl in the process (4000/4000 – 1000/1000). "I'm playing a spell card – Goblin Circus!"

As the spell card appeared in front of Faust, the young, white haired duelist pushed up his glasses. "Thanks to this little spell card, during each of my end phases, I can reveal the bottom card of my deck and then I can select either to place the card atop of my deck, or remove it from play."

"What's the point of doing that if your monster prevents you from drawing?" Ansel questioned as he looked at his own hand of cards.

"Oh, I have my reasons for doing so," Faust explained as he crossed his arms. "So now, I'll end my turn… So now we can look at the bottom card of my deck."

A single card popped out from the bottom of the creepy duelist's deck and into his hand. Slowly, Faust lifted the card up for only his eyes, but then he turned the card around to reveal a rather familiar looking spell card – This one depicting a two faced jar. "Ah, wouldn't ya know it? Its Pot of Duality. I think I'll keep this card at the top of my deck."

Faust fitted the card atop of his deck and he crossed his arms, "Okay, I'm done here. For now."

'_Alright, I have no idea what to do against this false god,'_ Ansel thought to himself as he drew from the top of his deck, giving him four cards in his hand. '_And it's an Xyz monster, it has to have another effect to use those Overlay units. But what's its effect?'_

Ansel looked at the card he just drew and nodded at it, '_Although, I think I can use this little guy's effect to at least put up a decent defense… Or wait, I can use his effect and… Yeah, if I can bust out a Synchro monster this turn, I can take down that large piece of wood rot.'_

"I'll summon Forest Thief Chip in attack mode!" Ansel announced as he gently placed the card onto his duel disk, causing a large number of leafs to fly in front of him.

That's when the small cartoonish squirrel popped out with it standing strong… At least until it looked at Jourmong, the squirrel's legs quaked as the yellow eyes leered into his very soul (800/1200). "Oh you've gotta be… Don't worry Chip! You'll be fine!"

"Oh, no he won't," Faust cackled loudly as he pulled a card from under Jourmong's card.

The large false god of a puppet roared loudly as one of the orbs crashed into the large blue jewel on Jourmong's head. Now empowered, Jourmong's second mouth opened up and unleashed a powerful burst of concentrated blue electrical energy that crashed into the scared Chip. The small rodent screeched out in pain as the energy wrapped around its body and systematically destroyed the small creature.

When the energy disappeared, Chip was nowhere to be seen. And in his place was only scorched ground. Ansel's eyes widened as he looked at the large puppet version of the Sky Dragon. "How in the… No, it can't be…"

Immediately, Faust laughed his head off (figuratively of course) and threw his arms up to his sides. "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But it is! My false god controls the same ability as ability as Osiris the Sky Dragon! Most notably, his second mouth ability.

"Whenever you summon a monster, my puppet can detach one Overlay Unit from my card and that monster loses two thousand attack points. But, if its attack points hit zero due to this effect, your monster's a goner. So, you'd best be careful about what you summon."

Ansel looked over the last three cards from his hand, and immediately selected two of the remaining cards and slipped them into his duel disk, making the cards appear before him. "Two set cards, and I'll end my turn!"

Faust merely ran a hand through his hair as he shook his head. "That's the best you can do? I'm so very disappointed. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to end this duel even quicker than I had intended.

"I'll start this turn by playing my spell card – Archfiend's Oath!"

Jourmong howled loudly as its power began to weaken (2000/2000) and the spell card emerged on the field. "An old card for sure, but take into account my false god's handicap, I can bypass it with this card with a simple five hundred points. So, I'll declare… Hmm, which one? Oh, I'll go with Pot of Duality!" (FLP: 5000)

Faust turned the top card of his deck around, revealing it to be the very same card that he called out. "Of course, this card isn't a shocker. And I think I'll just play it right now! So, let's reveal the top three cards from my deck!"

Once again, Faust slipped the card into his duel disk, making three cards pop up over him. The card on the right revealed a second copy of Dreary Doll, the second card was the trap card Mirror Force, and the third card was a spell card called…

"HA! Perfect!" Faust laughed loudly as he slipped the spell card into his hand. "I'll be taking that little number, but now, I'll have to shuffle the rest of the cards that I didn't take back into my deck."

The creepy white haired duelists did so, then lifted up the card he had chosen, "And now I'll play the spell card I just pulled – Spellbook in the Pot! Now, both of us can draw three more cards from our decks!"

Ansel bit his lower lip as he pulled off the top three cards, watching as Faust did the same – Strengthening the large puppet version of Sky Dragon (2000/2000 + 3000/3000). Faust's mouth continued to curl up into that crude smile that he had on his face since his turn begun. "Ooh, now won't this be fun? I activate another spell card – One that I mentioned earlier…

"MYSTICAL SPACE TYPHOON!"

Faust slipped the card into his duel disk, with Jourmong (5000/5000 – 1000/1000) roaring once more, summoning a powerful twister that flew in front of Faust for a few seconds. "Of course since I'm playing this, Jourmong gets weaker once again. But, it's worth it to destroy the card on the left!"

The twister slipped over the field until it crashed into the face down card on Ansel's field that was on Faust's left. The card lifted up to reveal Dimensional Prison, but quickly shattered like glass with the wind, and the freaky, glasses wearing duelist cackled loudly. "Oh well, that could've helped you out. Too bad.

"So sad…

"Oh well, time to go mad!

"JOURMONG!"

The large puppet roared loudly as its main mouth opened up before it unleashed a powerful burst of electricity that crashed into Ansel's body. For a moment, Ansel felt nothing… But in a quick instant, the insurmountable pain coursed through his entire form. His skin was burning, his blood conducting the powerful electrical energy, and even though he wanted to scream, Ansel couldn't even summon the strength to do even that.

And when the electricity finally dissipated, Ansel's arms were at his sides, his gaze was glazed over, and he slowly fell to his knees – The pain almost too much for him to take. (ALP: 1500)

"ANSEL!" Milo and Claire shouted out at the same time as Ansel fell face first into the ground.

Faust only smirked at the sight of his opponent laying face first on the ground, '_Ah, reminds me of the duels back in the underground. The rookies themselves can't stand an attack like that, most of them pass out.'_

Meanwhile, yards away from the dueling area, Rookie and Pawn watched the duel with different reactions…

"Kekekekekee!" Rookie cackled with a large grin painted on his face. "Sooooo, tell me little runt, still think I can't do anything right?"

Pawn on the other hand was awestruck at what she was looking at, he jaw opened comically, and her eyes opened wide. "How… Did you…"

"It's amazing to know who was invited to the tournament," Rookie responded with a wag of his finger. "I may not like technology, but even I can do a simple background check on who we invited. You'd be surprised who's walking around this tournament, not a lotta big names here, but still a number of interesting ones.

"Take the white haired loser for example – He's called the King of the Underworld. He's one of the best duelists in the Underground leagues."

"W-What?" Pawn gasped as she stepped away. "B-But, he shouldn't be invited to a tournament like this! That's an illegal league and our guidelines clearly stated that any duelist affiliated with said league is to be…"

"Nice try, pipsqueak," Rookie laughed with a lick of his chops. "The rules state 'currently affiliated', our deal freak of nature over there with the false god complex retired from his career over a month ago – With just enough time to get him an invitation and an RSVP to boot! Kekekekekee."

"Rookie, you didn't…" Pawn started.

"Oh please, I wasn't even aware this guy existed before an hour ago," Rookie countered with his long sleeves crossed over his chest. "You got a complaint about the guy, take it up with the boss. I'm sure she'll be more than pleased to listen to your complaints.

"Until then, I suggest you sit back and enjoy this orange haired loser's defeat with disgrace… Damn, I should've gotten some popcorn before this duel started."

Pawn sighed as she shook her head.

Back at the duel…

"Wow, either he's really hamming this up," Faust whistled as he threw his arms over his head. "Or the guy's actually pretty hurt. Oh well."

"Is that all you have to say?!" Claire shouted as she tossed the fox plush doll into Milo's arms. "Ansel could be seriously hurt! And I'm ninety-nine percent certain you're the jerk who hurt him in the first place!"

"Uh, yeah! Ditto!" Milo added as he took his top hat and placed it atop of the large plush fox. "You could at least pretend to show concern…"

"And forfeit the duel?" Faust retorted with a shrug of his shoulders. "Please, for all I know, the guy could be faking it. I'm not a sucker. I learned that the hard way that nice guys finish last in this cruel and unusual marble we call Earth.

"You know, there are a lot of things out there that make me angry. Let's face it, there are a lot of horrible things in this world of ours, and despite the best efforts of those on the side of justice and good, they still exist.

"Slavery still exists in the form of human trafficking.

"Terrorists plot to kill innocent people for some of the most trivial things around.

"Criminals, even those who are charged with taking life and innocence of others, can get off scot-free by even the tiniest of legal procedures.

"People suffer and die every day – Starvation, disease and acts of EVIL haunt the days of people all over this polluted dump we call a planet!"

Faust then threw his arms to the side and lifted his head up straight into the air, "Evil, blood, murder, rape, death, destruction, pain and suffering! This is what the human race has accumulated over the course of thousands of years!

"Just be glad I don't have superhuman abilities! Otherwise, I'd probably destroy this world!

"The point of what I'm getting at is that only those with success have done EVIL acts to claw their way to the top… Even if you claim you don't, odds are you crushed someone else's hope to get where you are. If I want to succeed, then I can't be the nice guy.

"If I want to live, I have to win. If I want to thrive, I have to be evil!"

"That's… Rather bleak," Claire admitted while she looked down. '_Sad thing is, he kinda does have a point…'_

"Evil? Good?"

Everyone looked around trying to find where that voice came from.

"Don't give me that speech – You do bad things because people do bad things?

It was then that everyone turned to see Ansel slowly stand up, his arms drooped to his sides, but his head was lifted up to glare at Faust through his fallen bangs of hair. "That's only an excuse, and a pretty lame excuse at that, to act like a jerk."

Faust didn't say a word as Ansel stood up straight, "I won't deny that there's EVIL in this world, nor will I disagree that EVIL creates more evil. But, if you think that only EVIL truly exists, then you're as emo as your hair suggests!"

That actually got a reaction from Faust as he pinched his hair between his fingers, '_Emo?'_

"I won't claim to know what happened to you," Ansel added before he drew in a deep breath. "Hell, I won't even say that I'm any better than you, but if you think that EVIL will always triumph…"

Taking a moment to fix his hair, Ansel stood up straight and pushed a button on his duel disk, "Then I'll be more than glad to prove you wrong! I activate my trap card – Shock Draw!"

As Ansel's face down card lifted up, a powerful bolt of lightning crashed behind Ansel. "For every thousand points of damage I just took, I can draw another card… So thanks for giving me so many cards!"

Ansel pulled another four cards from his deck, giving him a total of ten cards in his hand. Looking over the cards, Ansel nodded to himself. "So, anything else you'd like to throw at me?"

Faust looked at the last four cards in his hand and smirked, "So glad you asked! I'll set one card face down… And I'll end my turn! This means my Goblin Circus works again!"

Pulling the bottom card from his deck, Faust turned it around to reveal an older spell card – Machine Duplication. "I think I'll keep this at the top of my deck. Alright, show me how you can prove me wrong!"

"After what you did to me, you can count on it!" Ansel shouted as he pulled an eleventh card from his deck.

"Uh, Ansel seems a little pumped," Claire stated as she rubbed the back of his head. "He really didn't strike me as a guy who stands up for justice or that kind of stuff…"

Milo merely shrugged before he placed his top hat back atop his head.

"Hey, where my plush fox go?" Claire questioned.

"Oh, don't worry, he's quite safe," Milo answered as he tapped the rim of his hat a few times. "Anyway, I think you should keep an eye out for our chum right there."

Ansel looked at the cards in his hand, nodded and immediately slapped a card onto his duel disk, "I'll start this turn by summoning Kon, Tactician of the Forest!"

A small cloud of smoke popped up in front of Ansel, allowing the cartoonish fox to appear before him (900/900).

That's when Jourmong roared loudly, its second mouth opening up wide as the last overlay unit crashed into the jewel on its head. The second mouth unleashed a powerful burst of electricity and it crashed into Kon, vaporizing the small fox.

"Hmm, just as I thought," Ansel stated with a smirk on his face. "Your puppet has the exact same weakness that the Sky Dragon itself has – Its second mouth effect isn't optional! But, unlike Osiris, Jourmong has a limited set of ammo to use for that second mouth."

"So?" Faust questioned as he lifted his arms up towards Jourmong (3000/3000). "I may not have any more shots right now, but you seem to think that have a problem with that. And besides, you wasted your summon for this turn."

Ansel smirked as he lifted up one of the remaining ten cards, "Oh, but you should know this Faust… Never anger the forest!" (ALP: 500)

Placing the card onto his duel disk, a loud bellow rocked the area as the holographic woods parted to allow a large shadowed beast to run onto the field behind Ansel. The beast resembled the Blue Baboon that Ansel had discarded earlier, except this creature had messy dark green fur and was armed with a club that looked to be the remains of a tree the beast had uprooted not even ten seconds ago (2600/1800). "Cause you just angered the Defender! Green Baboon!"

"Ah yes, that's a staple in any beast deck isn't it?" Faust sighed as he pushed up his glasses. "Let me guess, now you're going to use Wild Nature's Release… Right?"

Ansel chuckled sheepishly as he fitted the card into his duel disk, making the Green Baboon roar loudly (2600/1800 + 1800/0).

Claire and Milo sighed loudly.

Faust just pushed up his glasses a few times.

However…

"Doesn't matter!" Ansel announced as he threw his hand up into the air. "Green Baboon! Attack Jourmong!"

The large primate leapt high into the air, somehow flying over the large puppet dragon. Then, just as quickly as the Green Baboon jumped above Jourmong, the Baboon plummeted towards the false god, its club held above its head.

THWACK!

With a sickening crack, the Green Baboon knocked off Jourmong's head and sent it crashing down into the ground next to Faust's feet, knocking the freaky duelist off his feet. The rest of Jourmong's body began to tremble before it fell to pieces, with the thick strings snapping all the while. (FLP: 3600)

"Urk!" Faust grunted as he watched the remains of his false god and the storm above disappear. '_He… He didn'_t_ even consider my face down card! Either he's just reckless, or he saw through my bluff!'_

"He… He did it," Milo whistled as he pushed up his top hat. "He just took down something that was almost on par with a god card."

"Yeah, but look at Faust," Claire pointed out with a hand to her mouth. "He doesn't seem to be to be all that upset."

Indeed, in fact, Faust was laughing loudly his hands lifted up and his head thrown back, "BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Such recklessness! So predictable! And such a way to defeat a false god! This… This is…

"THE POWER OF A HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERO!"

Ansel blinked a few times as he took a step back. "E-Excuse me? A h-hero?! What are you talking about?!"

"Please, with that speech you gave me before you took down Jourmong," Faust explained as he threw his arm to the side. "You raised the flag used in anime, video games, live action shows, and bad fan fiction all over the place – Once someone gives a speech that contradicts the villain's train of thought, it's almost a given that the villain's trump card will be defeated!"

"That's… Way too simple," Ansel stated with a loud sigh.

Faust however replied with a series of pants with his hands drawn near his face, "Simple?! Fool! There's nothing simplistic about it!

"It's the conclusion of the research that I've gathered over the course of sixteen years! It's almost always a given that the hero always succeeds! And there are signs to see this!"

"Wow, what a conclusion to get to," Ansel muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"However!" Faust announced with his hand lifted over his head. "By tripping that flag so soon, you raised another flag!"

Ansel didn't even say a word.

"You used it way too soon!" Faust laughed as he pumped his fist towards Ansel. "You assumed that Jourmong was my ace! What sort of being of EVIL would subject himself to rely on only one single card?!

"EVIL Rule Number Six Hundred and Sixty Six – Have an almost countless number of ways to win against the hero!"

"I… I'm not really a hero," Ansel stated with his hands waved in front of him. '_Heck, the two first duels that I had here I was used to wipe the floor clean by my opponents…'_

"Doesn't matter!" Faust replied as he threw his arm to the side. "Once you raise the flag, then you'll be labeled a hero, while most people will label me as a villain. Hell, I'll think that you'll be a fine lifelong nemesis!"

"… Life… Long?" Ansel questioned with a look of pure terror stamped in his eyes. "Hell no! I am not dealing with you for the rest of my life! I've already got a gang of friends back at home who make me wanna tear my hair out!"

"And that is the greatest EVIL I can bestow upon you!" Faust laughed back with his tongue sticking out of his mouth at the end. "But enough of the gloating and witty banter, let's get on with the duel! It's still your turn, now finish it!"

Ansel sighed loudly as he looked at the eight last cards in his hand. "Fine, I'll start by playing Mystic Wok!"

The Green Baboon roared loudly as it evaporated into a large mist that flew around Ansel's body. (ALP: 4900)

"Then, I'll set three cards face down," Ansel announced as he slipped three more cards into his duel disk, with the cards appearing before him on the field. "And then I'm done."

Faust's face curled up into a smirk as he drew a third card into his hand, with Jourmong no longer on the field, his draw phase wasn't sealed any more. "Hmm, in retrospect, I should go with the classic Convulsion of Nature combo…"

"Why would you even use Goblin Circus?" Ansel questioned with a raised eyebrow. "It's not that good of a card…"

"Oh, but it is, especially if you run a remove from play deck," Faust explained with a wag of his finger. "Besides, it's always fun to try out different cards – You never know what some cards can do with others. Like for example, my face down card, I activate Trap Stun!"

Faust's face down card shot up with a burst of static electricity that crashed into all three of Ansel's face down cards, binding them close to the ground. Ansel gulped slightly as Faust lifted up one of the three remaining cards he had left, "Now, don't worry, my eternal foe – You won't have to worry about them being like that for too long, not with what I'm about to summon…

"I activate Junk Puppet!"

The ground in front of Faust cracked as a familiar coffin popped up from the ground. The coffin opened up to reveal the Dreary Doll slowly pulling itself from the coffin (0/0). "This spell lets me special summon a Gimmick Puppet from my graveyard, just so long as it doesn't have more than a thousand attack points.

"Of course, my little doll's all alone on the field – Isn't that just sad? So, I figure I'll get out some playmates for my little play toy…"

"That sounds bad for some reason…" Ansel muttered to himself.

"Humph, talk to yourself all you like," Faust admitted as he slipped one of the two remaining cards into his duel disk. "But, it won't stop me from playing this – Machine Duplication!"

The spell card popped onto the field while two more cards shot out from Faust's deck, both of which he took and slapped onto his duel disk. The ground around the Dreary Doll cracked open until two more coffins floated alongside it. Slowly, both of the coffins opened to reveal two other Dreary Dolls (0/0 x2).

"Quite the handy little card, ain't it?" Faust cackled as he slipped the spell card into his graveyard slot. "So fun to use. Especially when I can abuse it like hell!"

"Yeah, real joy," Ansel with a roll of his eyes. "What makes this creepier is the fact that you're using dolls… DOLLS for crying out loud!"

"Why not?" Faust chuckled with a wag of his finger. "You'd be surprised what can be used in this game now-a-days – At first, this game started with creatures you'd find as rejects in Dungeons and Dragons or Final Fantasy, but today, we've got almost countless creatures to play with.

"Samurai, machines, demons, plants, birds, bringers of justice, creatures that infect said justice, or whatever you can imagine! But, look at me, when you look at me and take a look at my personality, people assume that I'll play fiends, dark counterparts, or even some sort of zombie deck. But with these dolls, not only do I get to play with creepiness, but I get access to machine support!

"Plus, if I didn't, then I wouldn't be able to play this next card… I OVERLAY ALL THREE OF MY DREARY DOLLS!"

All three of the dolls transformed into dark purple energy that flew through the air. Meanwhile, in front of Faust, a second vortex emerged in front of him drawing in all three of the Dreary Dolls into it. Faust threw his hands up into the air and proclaimed to the skies above as the clouds began to darken once more, "BEHOLD! The descent of this mighty creature shall be heralded by burning winds and twisted land!

"And with the coming of this horror, those who draw breath shall know the true meaning of eternal slumber! ARISE!"

A powerful jolt of blue lighting crashed into the vortex, causing said vortex to erupt into a flurry of blue sparks that blinded over the field. The explosion of sparks grew larger and more intense. Countless chains emerged from the sky and flew into the blinding lights. When the chains tightened up, they began to pull back into the clouded skies and from the vortex, an extremely large blue fist emerged from the light. The fist, and the eventual arm, that were pulled out from the light.

Ansel's eyes widened as the rest of the form was lifted up from the vortex and light. Its imposing form towered even taller than Jourmong, with its blue, jagged body covered with metal shaped to resembled large muscles. The chains pulled the metallic puppet's limbs to slam its two fists together with sparks erupting from the fists. Three orbs of light slipped around its body (2800/2000).

"First Osiris," Ansel growled with his eyes widened at the titan that leered down at him. "And now… Now…"

"OBELISK THE TORMENTOR!?" Claire and Milo chimed in at the large false god.

"Close, but no cigar," Faust chuckled with a wag of his finger. "You see, this is Gimmick Puppet – Titanus! But good guess."

"I was kinda expecting something with a bit more strength to it," Ansel stated as one of the orbs of light crashed into Titanus's fists, making them glow brightly. "… And I suppose I just ate crow, didn't I?"

"Oh, you have no idea," Faust explained as he slipped a card into his graveyard slot. "You see, unlike his god equivalent, Titanus here offers me a choice! By detaching one overlay unit once per turn, I can destroy either all of your monsters on the field or destroy all spells and traps on the field…

"… Gee, I wonder which one I'm gonna use?"

Titanus slammed one of its mighty fists into the ground between Ansel and Faust, sending a powerful shockwave that rocked not only the forest around the two duelists, but the five spells and traps that were laid out on the field flew up into the air. Then with a quick spin, the godly puppet spun around and backhanded all of the cards into millions of pixels. The forest itself shattered as well, returning the duelists back to the jolly square of Joliant.

"And that's not all," Faust cackled as he threw his arms to the side. "You see, Orange, as long as my false god is out on the field, every time one or more cards are destroyed by a single card effect, you take three hundred points of damage for each card that was destroyed. And I just wasted six of them!"

Several blue bolts of blue electrical energy crashed into Ansel's body, making him yell out in pain with him falling to his knees. When the electrical energy faded, smoke rose from Ansel's body, '_… Huh… I was wondering when I was gonna feel pain again… I guess it takes a while or so. That last blast didn't hurt too much…'_ (ALP: 3100)

"Oh, and by the by," Faust chimed in as he pushed up his glasses. "I can still attack you this turn."

"…" Ansel was silent as he looked up, watching as one of the mighty fists was dropping straight towards him. "… Of course!"

With a loud boom, the fist crashed into Ansel, the impact sent dust and holographic debris flying through the air, making all who were watching the duel cover their eyes from the carnage that just occurred. (ALP: 1700)

Faust however just pushed up his glasses with a smirk on his face, "I should point out that if I use Titanus's ability, any battle damage you take is cut in half this turn. Not like I would've won if I had attacked you without using his ability, or vice versa, but it's good to cut down any amount of life points. And to get rid of any pesky traps you had about the field is always good.

"Speaking of, I'll be setting one trap face down. Turn end!"

The face down card materialized in front of Faust as the dust around Ansel began fade, revealing that the orange haired duelist was kneeling on the ground, his breathing labored. '_Almost eaten by a fish, had my tail handed me by a candy land princess, shot with something on par with a damn god card… TWICE! Seriously, why am I doing this!?_

'… _Aw, who am I kidding? I know why I'm doing this…_

'_It's for the money!'_

"You alive over there?" Faust questioned with a wide smirk on his face. "Oh well, I guess that you really weren't much of a hero. Good acting though – You actually look like you got hit with a giant fist…

"How'd you get your clothes to get messed up though? Holograms? Quick change? Or were your clothes already tattered? I didn't get a good look at ya, Orange."

"Huh, I didn't think Ansel was that big of an actor," Claire pointed out with a tilt of her head.

"I'm not!" Ansel shouted to push himself off of the ground, his joints cracking at the same time. '_Ow!'_

"Hmm," Faust mused to himself as he rubbed his chin. "Interesting… I'm a bit curious, but there's time for that later, just get on with your turn."

"Not yet," Ansel stated as his duel disk's graveyard slot glowed brightly. "You see, since you destroyed all of my spells and traps in one turn, I can activate the effect of one of the spell cards you destroyed – Final Whisper of the Forest!"

A familiar tune echoed through the air, with countless leafs billowing across the field. "During the turn this card was destroyed by one of your card effects, I can remove it and one field spell card from my graveyard, I can special summon one level three or lower Beast, Plant or Winged-Beast from my graveyard.

"So, come on back – Tora!"

From the leafs, the green tunic garbed and ocarina playing tiger bounced back onto the field, playing the calming tune all the while (700/200).

"I still say that card needs to be a wolf," Faust replied with a rub of his chin.

"I didn't design the card!" Ansel shouted as he pulled off the top card from his deck. "But in any case, I'll summon Kon, Tactician of the Forest!"

A could of smoke exploded on the field, and amongst the smoke was leaf bearing fox (900/900), who was more preoccupied with using his fan to cool himself than to dance with Tora's music. "Next, I'll use Tora's ability to level up Kon by one!"

Three stars popped over Kon's body, however, the fox merely shrugged as a fourth star materialized overhead.

'_Heh, hoping for another Synchro Summon?' _ Faust thought to himself as he licked his lips. '_Too bad I'm aware of what you're planning – That's why I got Bottomless Trap Hole out on the field. Then if he sets any other cards next turn, I can blast them away and any life points he'll have left. _

'_Besides, even if he does have a second Barkion, I'm not worried. I can still have some fun…'_

"Now, I'll tune both of my monsters!" Ansel announced as both of his small monsters leapt up into the air with several flames surrounding the two of them.

Tora's fiery body transformed into three rings that slipped round Kon, which transformed both of the small beasts into a powerful tower of flames. The flames crashed into the ground, and flew up into the air.

"What in the?" Faust questioned with a raised eyebrow at the powerful flames. "What the heck is this?"

A loud neigh echoed through the air as the flames began to convulse and pour into themselves, forming into a tall and sleek quadruped creature. Two tall and jagged antlers emerged from the creature's head, with its blue fiery eyes appeared on its sleek head, glaring at Titanus. The flames slipped from the creature's body, revealing a beautiful, red furred stag deer with a golden furred underbelly and golden antlers. Flames danced around the hooves of the oddly beautiful stag as the creature glared at Titanus and Faust (2400/1300). "I Synchro summon… Quailong Stag!"

"Quailong Stag?" Faust questioned with a raised eyebrow as he pushed a button on his duel disk, making his face down card fade into the ground. "Quite a marvelous creature, too bad we're gonna have to make it disappear – With my Bottomless Trap Hole!"

The ground beneath the stag opened up to reveal a large gaping pitfall beneath the Synchro monster, Faust laughed loudly, "So, say goodbye!"

However, the Stag snorted and widened its stance so it wouldn't fall into the pit. Then with a shake of its head, the Quailong Stag leapt away from the hole.

Faust just stood there with his jaw dropped. "… What the hell?!"

"Oh sorry, but it looks like another flag has just been raised," Ansel chuckled with a wag of his finger. "I'm not a stranger to the concept of that Faust, I may not be an 'expert' like you, but I know enough that when a hero gets his back to the wall, he pulls out his surefire weapon! Especially if it's something brand spanking new!

"You see you EVIL scientist reject, after the poundings I got so far this day, I began to think… I've got a practical fortune of cards at my disposal – And if I'm gonna find answers that I'm looking for, I'm gonna have to use them. I may not like it, but using a handful of them won't hurt."

'_Especially when I got card sleeves for these cards anyway…'_

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain how your Bambi reject dodged my trap c…" Faust started before his glasses lit up. "Wait… Don't tell me, your monster, it's immune to traps?!"

"No need to be over the top here," Ansel replied with a roll of his eyes. "But Quailong here is actually immune to any and all effects during the turn its summoned, mine included."

'_But that's not the only effect this stag's got.'_

"If that's the case, then why even bother summoning it?" Faust questioned as he fitted his trap card into his duel disk's graveyard slot. "It can't beat Titanus…"

"Let's fix that then," Ansel shouted as he pumped his arm up. "Quailong Stag! Attack that puppet!"

Faust pushed up his eyes as Quailong's antlers began to glow brightly, with a blue, ghostly baboon slipped around its body. "Great, it's got another ability, doesn't it."

"At least you live up to the idea of being an EVIL genius," Ansel stated as he held up Blue Baboon's card from his graveyard slot. "You see, when my Stag battles an opposing monster during the damage step, I can remove one Beast monster from my graveyard and your monster loses attack points equal to the attack of the monster I just removed.

"In this case, Blue Baboon's spirit pulls out eighteen hundred points from your puppet!"

The blue ghost surrounded Quailong's body, and the stag leapt high into the air until it crashed directly into Titanus' chest. The ghostly flame surged around the puppet's body, even running up the chains that acted as its puppet strings. One by one, the chains snapped with the broken links falling to the ground around the two duelists (2800/2000 – 1800/0).

The Quailong Stag used its mighty legs to kick away from the puppet, shattering Titanus's body into several segments that slammed against the ground with each part that fell. Faust fell backwards as the parts were about to hit him… but oddly enough, none of them did. (FLP: 3600)

"Huh?" Faust questioned with a blink of his eyes. "I… Why didn't I lose any life points?"

"A little drawback from my beast's effect," Ansel explained as Quailong landed back on the ground in front of him, shaking what remains of the ghostly baboon were on its body. "Any damage done after this effect is used is dropped to zero. So I may not have scratched ya this turn… But let's look at the set up.

"You got nothing on the field, nothing in your hand, and I've got three other cards I can easily use."

Ansel took two of the cards from his hand and slipped them both into his duel disk, "And wouldn't ya know it, I'm setting two cards face down, and with that, I'm ending my turn."

Faust stood up, cracked his neck, took a deep breath and finally drew from the top of his deck. His glasses darkened slightly as he tucked the card into his hand. "… Turn end."

"Huh?" Ansel questioned with a flat look on his face. "You're… Passing?"

"What can I say?" Faust stated with a shrug of his shoulders. "I overextended myself. Honestly, even if I wanted to, the spell card I got in my hand can't really help… Since it has to target a monster on the field."

Faust turned the card around, revealing the spell card – Smashing Ground. "Sides, since you said that your Stag can't be targeted, this draw is dead. So, go right ahead Orange… No, wait, what was your name? I don't think I ever got your name."

"It's Reaves," Ansel stated as he slowly drew from the top of his deck. "Ansel D. Reaves."

"… I'll be sure to remember that," Faust chuckled as Ansel slipped a card into his duel disk. "Now, finish it Hero – ANSEL!"

"As you wish! I play Monster Reborn!" Ansel announced as a bright light popped over the field…

And from the light, the large Green Baboon crashed into the ground in front of the orange haired duelist, waving the club (2600/1800). "Let's end this quick! Quailong! Green! Attack him directly!"

Both of the beastly monsters charged across the field and practically tackled into Faust's body, knocking him off of his feet and sent him flying a few feet backwards. (FLP: 0)

Ansel blinked a few times as the holograms began to disappear, he then looked at his duel disk and then at the fallen Faust. Then looked towards Claire and Milo, "… Uh, did I just win?"

"I think that would be obvious about that," Claire sighed with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah! Congrats Ansel!" Milo laughed as he clapped his hands a few times. "I didn't expect a duel like that. Facing off against two pseudo gods like that, damn!"

'_Yeah, you weren't the guy who got hit with two attacks from said gods,'_ Ansel thought as he turned towards Faust, who was still laying down on the ground. '_… Uh oh, this doesn't look good. Oh god, don't tell me that he's gonna follow me too now… _

'… _Well, I guess I should see if he's still breathing…'_

Carefully, Ansel walked over to Faust and looked over the white haired duelist who's glasses seemed to have swirls in the lenses. "Uh, Faust? Are you okay?"

Slightly, Faust turned towards Ansel with a goofy smirk on his face, "Hello my baby, hello my darling, hello rag-time gal…

"Send me a kiss by wire. Baby, my heart's on fire!"

Ansel jumped back just before Faust sat up straight and shook his head, "Gah!"

"If you're done with the show tunes," Ansel coughed as he held his hand out to Faust. "Are you okay?"

Ignoring the offered hand, Faust leapt to his feet on his own and dusted himself off, "Of course, just a little swept off my feet… Been awhile since someone was able to beat both of my false gods in one duel – Usually one of them gets the job done."

"… You don't happen to have a puppet version of…" Ansel started with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.

"Let me stop ya there," Faust interrupted with a wave of his hand. "No, I don't. Not yet anyway… I'm missing the last one of the three. But that'll change in a few minutes."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ansel questioned with a cocked eyebrow.

"Oh, if I told you everything, where's the fun in that?" Faust cackled as he threw his arms over his head. "Besides, I'm on the side of EVIL, why would I want to help the good guy?"

"That's true," Ansel grumbled as he smirked. "But you see, this could be a good thing - You could raise the flag where once enemies join forces, they form an unstoppable force!"

A light gleamed off of Faust's glasses as he pushed them up, "This is true. But, I'm still not interested in raising that flag – so, you'll have to settle for something smaller. Before I dueled against you, I already had two duels under my belt – Both victories mind you. And until an hour ago, I was in Volk, wiping the floor of a couple of smucks.

"So, why would I want to waste my time dueling against a nobody like you all the way in Joliant? It's because I was given a reason to do so – Someone made me a deal that I couldn't help but bite down on."

"Someone wanted you to duel me?" Ansel questioned. "Who?"

"Sorry, but like I said – EVIL," Faust replied as began to trot away. "So, you'll just have to think about it my foe… If you figure out what's going on, let me know. Cause I know that we'll cross paths once again."

"Great," Ansel grumbled. '_So, there's someone here who's trying to take me down, and I've got an EVIL rival now… Great, now I'm doing it!'_

Meanwhile…

"So Rookie, what's it like to eat crow?"

"… I'm going back to Volk before that white haired freak finds me."

TBC

**TTTTTTTT**

**Card stats**

**Gimmick Puppet – Magne Doll / Dark / LV. 8 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 1000 / Machine/Effect:** If your opponent controls a monster and you control only 'Gimmick Puppet' monsters, you can special summon this card (from your hand).**  
Description:** A simple, yet ugly looking doll with a segmented body, looking more like the model of a puppet

**Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll / Dark / LV. 8 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 0 / Machine/Effect:** If this card is in your graveyard: you can banish 1 other 'Gimmick Puppet' monster from your graveyard; Special Summon this card from your graveyard. You can only use the effect of "Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll" once per turn. This card cannot be used as an Xyz Material, except for the Xyz Summon of a "Gimmick Puppet" monster. **  
Description:** a scary china doll covered with bloody bandages rising from a coffin  
_These cards are Japanese Promos that will hopefully be brought to America_

**Junk Puppet / Normal Spell / Effect:** Target 1 'Gimmick Puppet' monster with 1000 or less ATK in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target in face-up Defense Position.**  
Image:** A large coffin inside a purple transmutation circle  
_This card was used in the ZeXal Anime._

**Blue Baboon, Mender of the Forest / Earth / LV. 4 / ATK: 1800 / DEF: 1300 / Beast/Effect:** By discarding this card from your hand, you may add one Field Spell card from your deck that has 'Forest' in its name to your hand.**  
Description:** a large blue furred armed with what appeared to be several leafs that were smeared with honey

**Silver Woods / Field Spell / Effect: **This card is considered to have 'Forest' in its name. Once per turn, you may select one face-up Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Plant-Type monsters on your side of the field. Return the selected card back to its owner's hand. Then you may special summon one Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Plant-Type monster from your hand with a level equal to or lower than the returned monster's Level.**  
Image:** A large silver forest with

**Tora, Musician of the Forest / Earth / LV. 3 / ATK: 700 / DEF: 200 / Beast/Tuner:** Twice per turn, you may select one face up Beast, Beast-Warrior or Plant-type monster on the field, and increase that monster's level by one.**  
Description:** A cute young tiger dressed in a green tunic with an ocarina in its paws.

**Final Whisper of the Forest / Normal Spell / Effect:** During the end phase this card was destroyed by your opponent's card effect, by removing this card and one Field Spell card from your graveyard, you may special summon one level three or lower Beast, Winged-Beast or Plant-type monster from your graveyard. A monster special summoned with this effect cannot be used in an Advance Summon or be used in an Xyz Summon.**  
Image:** Several creatures howling to the moon through a dark forest

**Quailong Stag / Fire / LV. 7 / ATK: 2400 / DEF: 1300 / Beast/Synchro/Effect:** [1 Beast-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-tuner monsters] During the turn this card is Synchro summoned, this card is unaffected by all card effects. Once per turn, when this card battles an opponent's monster, during the damage step, by removing one Beast-type monster from your graveyard, you may lower the ATK of the opposing monster by the ATK of the monster that removed with this card's effect (any battle damage done during this battle after this effect is used is lowered to 0).**  
Description:** a beautiful, red furred stag deer with a golden furred underbelly and golden antlers. Flames dance around the hooves of the oddly beautiful stag

**Hammer 'N the Nail / Quick-Play Spell / Effect:** Select and destroy one spell or trap card on the field. If there is a face up 'Gimmick Puppet' monster on your side of the field after this card resolves, you may shuffle this card into your deck instead of sending it to the graveyard.**  
Image:** Dark Ruler Ha-Des nailing in a hammer into a crude doll version of the Dark Magician

**Gimmick Puppet – Ragged Scarecrow / Dark / LV. 3 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 1000 / Machine/Effect:** Once per turn, while this card is removed from play, you can pay 500 life points. When this is done, you can return this card to your graveyard.**  
Description: **A goofy looking scarecrow dressed up like the Dark Magician, only with straw poking out of its lifeless body.

**Gimmick Puppet - Titanus / Dark / Rank 8 / ATK: 2800 / DEF: 2000 / Machine/Xyz/Effect: **[3 Level 8 Monsters] As long as this card is face up on the field, each time a card(s) is destroyed by a card effect, inflict 300 points of damage to your opponent's points x the number of cards that were destroyed by a single effect. Once per turn, during your first Main Phase by removing one of this card's Xyz Materials, you may select one of the following effects:  
-) Destroy all monsters on your opponent's side of the field. During the turn this effect is activated, you cannot enter your battle phase.  
-) Destroy all spell and trap cards on the field. During the turn this effect is activated, any battle damage your opponent takes is halved.  
**Description:** A large blue and steel version of Obelisk the tormentor, with chains holding up its limbs and wings. There are a number of cracks lining the limbs

**Gimmick Puppet – Jourmong / Dark / Rank 8 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 0 / Machine/Xyz/Effect:** [2 Level 8 Monsters] As long as this card is face up on the field, you cannot draw during your Draw Phase. For each card in your hand, increase this card's ATK and DEF by 1000 points. Whenever a monster is summoned to the field while this card is face up on the field, by removing one Xyz material from this card, lower the summoned monster's ATK by 2000 (if the monster's ATK falls to 0 because of this effect, destroy the summoned monster). **  
Description:** An incredibly large red and wooden version of Osiris the Sky Dragon, with several ropes holding up its long body.

**TTTTTT**

**Heroes…**

**Villains…**

**In the long run, it doesn't matter. **

**But still, now that Ansel's aware that he's being watched and that there's someone after him, he should be able to focus on the dueling at hand…**

**Right?**

…

**What do you think?**

**Well, this isn't much of a preview…**

**Well, I'm kinda EVIL that way.**

**NEXT TIME**

_**Chapter 6**_

_**Cold Chivalry **_


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